Boris Mikhailov was born in Kharkov, Ukraine, in 1938. He began working as a photographer at the age of 28, leaving behind a profession as an engineer. In the 1970s he worked as an independent photographer and retoucher. His photographs often depict the absurdity of Russian provincial life and the universal features of Soviet reality. During those years Mikhailov was significantly influenced by Kabakov, with whom he shared ideas of Sots Art and Conceptualism.
Mikhadov most often takes as his subject the everyday life of Soviet people in and the ideological foundation of this reality. By tinting negatives Mikhailov fills the space of his works with a specific color density, symbolizing the artificial quality of the pictured reality.
In 1996 Mikhailov received a Berlin Art Academy scholarship and began a European exhibition tour. Two monographs devoted to his work were recently published in 1996 – 1997. Mikhailov divides his time between Kharkov and Berlin.
