Artist Statement
Born in the USSR, a country that no longer exists, and having emigrated to New York as a teenager, I have experienced firsthand the dislocation of memory and identity, which has immensely influenced my practice. As a photographer and visual researcher, my practice is rooted in investigation of memory, truth, and the production of knowledge. By enlisting various mediums such as photography, video, archives, and machine learning I seek to create multi-vocal methodologies that penetrate traditional narratives of stable cultural histories.
In my work, I examine how technology and storytelling intertwine to shape our understanding of the past, future and present. I am fascinated by the dislocation of identity and how these shifts affect our collective social memory. By juxtaposing personal experiences with broader historical and socio-political contexts, I invite viewers to question their own perceptions of truth. Working with a wide range of mediums, I explore the intersection of technology and the mediation of memory, examining the ways in which advancements in communication tools impact our ability to remember and interpret the past.
I am committed to fostering empathy and understanding in my work, as I believe that storytelling and image making technologies have the power to transcend cultural and geographic boundaries, enabling us to cultivate connections and find common ground in a progressively interconnected world. In essence, my artistic practice is an invitation to critically examine the myriad of truths that shape our collective memory.
Biography
Alexey Yurenev is an artist, visual researcher, and educator whose work explores the intersections of memory, technology, and production of knowledge. He is Adjunct Faculty in the visual arts MFA Program at Columbia University and a faculty member at the International Center of Photography (ICP).
His work has been exhibited internationally at venues including FOAM (Amsterdam), Hangar (Brussels), MOMus Modern/Costakis Collection (Thessaloniki), and Rencontres d’Arles. He is the author of the book Seeing Against Seeing (2025).
Yurenev’s projects have been featured in The New York Times, National Geographic, Literary Hub, and Topic. His work is held in collections such as Johns Hopkins University Special Collections, FOAM Museum, and the Anti-Krieg Museum. He has been recognized by Photographer of the Year International and received the Silurian Society Award for excellence in arts and culture journalism. He has also been nominated for an Emmy Award and the FOAM Paul Huf Award.
He is the co-founder of FOTODEMIC, an online platform for innovative visual strategies, and the founder and executive producer of Living Room, a monthly public program for ICP alumni.
exhibitions
2026
Silent Hero, Echoes of Silence, Rotterdam Photo Festival, Rotterdam, NL
2025
Silent Hero, Prompting the Real, Palazzo Poggi, Bologna, IT
Silent Hero, La Nuit de L'Année, Rencontres D'Arles, Arles, FR
Seeing Against Seeing, History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Bosnia
Seeing Against Seeing, Universal War, MOMus/Costakis Collection, Thessaloniki, GR
In This Together, Photoville, New York, US
Your Grandmother Highness Vernissage, NYC Mayor's Office, Brooklyn, NY
Silent Hero, Photography and Generative Images, Hangar Art Center, Brussels, BE
2024
Silent Hero, Missing Mirror, FOAM, Amsterdam, NL
Seeing Against Seeing, Dummy Award '24, Rencontres D'Arles
Seeing Against Seeing, Dummy Award '24, Lodz, PL
Seeing Against Seeing, Dummy Award '24, Institto Italiano Di Fotografia Milano, Milan, IT
Seeing Against Seeing, Dummy Award '24, Grisart Barcelona, Barcelona, SP
Seeing Against Seeing, Dummy Award '24, Photobook Museum, Cologne, GE
2023
“In Times of Trouble We Dream with Open Eyes” — Grey Space in the Middle, The Hague, NL
Museumnacht Den Haag — Kunstmuseum Den Haag, The Hague, NL
“Undercurrents” — in collaboration with the Embassy of the Netherlands in China, SCOP, Shanghai, China
“Unstill” — graduating exhibition of Photography & Society, Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, NL
2022
“Yolun Dişinda” — group exhibition in collaboration with Darağaç Collective, Darağaç, Izmir, Turkey
“Undocumented Migration” — group exhibition contextualizing Jason De Leon’s Hostile 94 installation, Amare, The Hague, NL
Counter Currents — in collaboration with KABK and Creative Court, Bunker at Waterkant, The Hague, NL
Atrij ZRC, In Ukraine — Ljubljana, Slovenia
Villa Ockenburgh, In Ukraine: Coming Home — The Hague, NL
Dobbin Mews, In Ukraine — Brooklyn, USA
2021
The Book of Bikin — NYFA City Artist Corps
2020
The Royal — VIDA Archive presents Exotic Masculinity, curated by Samantha Sutcliffe, Brooklyn, NY
PhotoNOLA — “Exile,” New Orleans, LA
PhotoNOLA — “Welcome to the Exit,” New Orleans, LA
22 Ludlow — Leap Year 2020, New York, NY
2019
Invisible City — Zavod Studio, Odesa, Ukraine
2018
Signal Crossing — ICP Rita Hillman Gallery, New York, NY
publications
2024
Foam #66 Missing Mirror - Silent Hero
2018
Topic Magazine (Aug 2018) — “Poems from the Underground”
notable collections
Johns Hopkins University Special Collections
The Photobook Museum
Anti-Kriegs Museum
FOAM Museum
residencies
2025
Philosophy & Photography Lab, Thessaloniki, GR
Arts Letters and Numbers – Averil Park, NY
2024
Reflexions 2.0 Venice, Italy
Arts Letters and Numbers – Averil Park, NY
Reflexions 2.0 Landskrona Photo Festival Sweden
2023
Reflexions 2.0 Incadaques Festival Cadaques, Spain
speaking engagements
2026
Seeing Against Seeing book panel in conversation with Fred Ritchin and Teun van der Heijden, Printed Matter, New York
Artist Talk, Rotterdam Photo Festival, Rotterdam, NL
Seeing Against Seeing book panel, Columbia University, New York
2025
Artist Talk, Les Nuits Photo, Paris, FR
Artist Talk, Seeing Against Seeing - FOAM, Amsterdam, NL
Parse Journal, Autograph Gallery – Encounters in the Archive, London, UK
Artist talk, Momus Costakis Collection, Thessaloniki, GR
Why Remember? Testimonies of Light, History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, BA
Artist talk, Hangar Art Center, Brussels, BE
2024
Visual Strategies in Documentary Practice, ICP, New York
International Conference of Photography and Theory 2024, Nicosia, Cyprus
Machine Visions, Columbia University, New York
10x10 Photo Books Salon #76, Photography and Photobooks in the Age of AI with Fred Ritchin, Brian Palmer, and Alexey Yurenev, Magnum Foundation, New York
Fred Ritchin, Brian Palmer and Alexey Yurenev, Magnum Foundation, New York
Aalto Photomedia 2024 Conference, Helsinki, Finland
Voidopolis with Kat Mustatea, Charlotte Kent and Arielle Saber at John Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
New Histories, Raclin Murphy Museum at Notre Dame University with Gregory Eddi Jones
Synthetic Visions with Fred Ritchin and Danielle Ezzo, ICP, NYC
2023
Catchlight Storyteller Summit “Synthetic Images: Opportunity or a Threat?” With Hany Farid, Jonas Bendiksen, moderated by Pamela Chen San Francisco, CA
Magnum Foundation “Synthetic Images” artist talk, moderated by Fred Ritchin New York, NY
“Artist Methodologies,” LUCA School of Art, moderated by Sofie Crabbé Ghent, Belgium
“Artist Methodologies: Machine Learning,” NYU ITP Experimental Photo, led by Ellen Nickels Brooklyn, New York
2022
Counter Currents – in collaboration with KABK and Creative Court – Bunker at Waterkant, The Hague, NL
Pakhuis de Zwijger – Visual Storytelling / State of the Arts – with Karen Archey, Natasha Greenhalgh and Jan Robert Leegte, moderated by Lars Boering – Amsterdam, NL
2021
Magnum Photos – Beyond Magnum: The Real, the Unreal and the Authentic With Debi Cornwall, Josue Rivas, Marvin Heiferman, moderated by Fred Ritchin New York, NY
2020
Documentary: Beyond Still Image with Stephen Mayes, Laia Abril, Bayeté Ross Smith and Lewis Bush, hosted by Michelle Bogre and Paul Wenham-Clarke Meero Foundation IG Live: Bayeté Ross Smith, “Our Kind of People” Camera Torino – live talk with Gaia Squarci – Torino, IT
Meero Foundation featuring Fotodemic – Paris, FR
Russian Independent Self-Published – book dummy presentation – Moscow, RU
2019
Studio Zavod – artist talk – Odessa, UK
books
2023
17.VII.44 Artist book
2021
The Book of Bikin Artist book
2018
New York Edited, Belonging | Hannes Wanderer – excerpt from Silka, collaboration with Ostkreuzschule
teaching
2026
AI and Photography, Columbia University, New York
2025
Columbia University, MFA Visual Art – Adjunct Professor
International Center of Photography, Full-Time Program – “On Speaking Nearby”
2024
International Center of Photography, Full-Time Program – “From Fact to Fiction”
International Center of Photography, Full-Time Program – “(Pre)Occupied Landscapes”
2023
Columbia University, MFA Visual Arts – Visiting critic
International Center of Photography, Open Education – “Synthetic Visions”
International Center of Photography, Open Education – “Documentary Practice: Visual Strategies”
2022
International Center of Photography, Documentary Practice Full-Time Program – “Inside the Black Box”
2021
International Center of Photography, Documentary Practice Full-Time Program – Reading the Light
International Center of Photography, Documentary Practice Full-Time Program – Digital Production Seminar
awards + honors
2025
Favorite books of 2025, Lensculture
New York City Mayor’s Office – Certificate of Recognition
2024
Dummy Award 24 – Seeing Against Seeing – shortlist
Foam Paul Huf Award – nomination
2022
Shorty Awards – Inaccessible Cities, Al Jazeera – finalist Photolucida Critical Mass – finalist
Emmy – Inaccessible Cities, Al Jazeera – nomination
2021
Star Book Dummy Award nomination – Welcome to the Exit
New York Foundation for the Arts – City Artist Corps Grant
2020
PDN’s 30 nomination
2019
PDN’s 30 nomination
POYi – finalist – Community Awareness category
Joop Swart Masterclass nomination
Silurian Society Award | Excellence in Journalism | Arts and Culture
Magenta Flash Forward 2019 | Top 100 Emerging Photographers
Tokyo Reminders Photography Stronghold Masterclass
2018
New York Times – Year in Pictures 2018 Eddie Adams Workshop XXXI Moscow International Foto Awards – 2nd Place, Editorial – Yuri’s Journey to Hell
bibliography
2024
Larval Memories: Spectralizing the Past through AI Photography, virtual photography by Ali Shobeiri, Transcript Publishing
The Epidemic of Silent Heroes by Olga Bubich, Syg.ma The Missing Mirror by Tonya Sudiono, NRC, June 13
Silent Hero by Mari Bastashevski, Foam Magazine #66 Interview by Fred Ritchin (forthcoming), Synthetic Eye, Thames and Hudson
2023
The Routledge Companion to Photography, Representation and Social Justice Transcript of a panel discussion, Beyond Magnum: The Real, the Unreal and the Authentic, with Marvin Heiferman, Josue Rivas and Debi Cornwall, moderated by Fred Ritchin, edited by Moritz Neumüller
The Routledge Companion to Photography, Representation and Social Justice Exiting the Photographic Universe by Fred Ritchin
2022
Synthetic Confabulations Essay for Re-Vue.org in English and German, October 23, 2022
Website designed by Sonya Umanskaya
and coded by Dans Jirgensons.