Andrejs Grants (born March 7, 1955) is a Latvian

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

and

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. He studied at the Latvian State University (1973–78), worked in the “Ogre” photo studio (1978–1988). From 1979 he is a teacher at the House of Technical Innovation in Riga, where he gained his reputation as an influential photography teacher of many Latvian contemporary photographers, film-makers and artists, such as Ritums Ivanovs, Arnis Balčus and

Gints Bērziņš Gints Bērziņš (born 8 March 2002) is a Latvian luger who competes internationally. He represented his country at the 2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olym ...

. At "Ogre" photo studio he formed an informal group "A" with photographers

Inta Ruka Inta Ruka (born 1958) is a Latvian photographer. Life and work Ruka was born in Riga. She married Egons Spuris, a Latvian photographer. Towards the end of the 1970s, she started her career in photography. In 2006, she worked on another photogra ...

, Valts Kleins and Gvido Kajons. Having influences by documentary photographers, such as

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as c ...

and

Robert Frank Robert Frank (November 9, 1924 – September 9, 2019) was a Swiss Documentary photography, photographer and documentary filmmaker, who became an American binational. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled The Americans (photography), ''The ...

, group "A" used a

reportage Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the journalist, occupa ...

style to document everyday life of Soviet Latvia, very often creating photographs full of

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''"the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad q ...

. Andrejs Grants gained international recognition by collaborating with group "A" ideological leader Egons Spuris'

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can ...

. Their project "Latvia: Changing and Unchanging Reality" has been shown internationally. Similar to Ruka's work, Andrejs Grants' main theme are the people in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. His photographs record a variety of Latvian people of different social levels, professions, nationalities, generations, people in their usual surroundings – in the city or countryside, at work or at home, in festivities or alone. In 2002 a monography "Andrejs Grants" was released by Neputns with a selection of his best work.

External links

Camp museum

Info on the show Stories about Riga
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grants, Andrejs 1955 births Living people Latvian photographers University of Latvia alumni Artists from Riga