Grigori Aleksandrovich Galitsin (; 1957 – 13 November 2021), also known as A. Obolenski,
("Naked Teenagers Filmed near the Eternal Flame in Volgograd"), ''Volgograd Inform'', October 13, 2006. was a Russian erotic photographer.

Biography

Career

Galitsin studied

classical painting The history of painting reaches back in time to artifacts and artwork created by pre-historic artists, and spans all cultures. It represents a continuous, though periodically disrupted, tradition from Antiquity. Across cultures, continents, and ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, but later turned to photography. His first

camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

, an early

Leica Leica may refer to: Companies * Ernst Leitz GmbH, later divided into: ** Leica Biosystems GmbH, a cancer diagnostics company ** Leica Camera AG, a German camera and optics manufacturer ** Leica Geosystems AG, a Swiss manufacturer of surveying and ...

model, was given to him by his grandfather who purchased it from the

German army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

in 1947."Galitsin's Angels"
(book official website), ''Hermansky-Books.com'', 2006. In 1996, Galitsin, who by then had established himself primarily as an erotic photographer based in

Volgograd Volgograd,. formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population ...

, began providing content to an early Internet adult website. In 1998, he became the main content provider for the newly founded adult website, Most Erotic Teens (the predecessor of MET-ART), and also provided content for another adult site, DOMAI. In 2002, he left MET and launched the website Galitsin-Archives as a joint project with Norwegian photographer Petter Hegre. After a falling-out with Hegre in 2004, Galitsin ended Galitsin-Archives and established his own website Galitsin-News. by Grigori Galitsin, ''Galitsin-News.com'', March 26, 2004. ''Note: if page fails to load quickly, manually stop the browser from loading.'' Galitsin also started the sister website Nud-Art in 2006. The majority of Galitsin's photos and videos were shot in the Volgograd area, and sometimes in hotels in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

as well. Galitsin's apartment (the former home of poet Margarita Agashina and former Volgograd mayor Yuri Chekov) doubled as a high-tech porn studio. His activity as a pornographer was largely unknown to his neighbors, though he was noted around Volgograd for his expensive lifestyle. Occasionally he would travel abroad with his models to countries like Egypt and India to shoot on location there."Massage parlour figure in porn site"
by Devasia, ''

Khaleej Times ''Khaleej Times'' is a daily English language newspaper published in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Launched on 16 April 1978, ''Khaleej Times'' is the UAE's longest-running English daily newspaper. History and profile A partnership between the U ...

'', July 3, 2006. In 2006, Galitsin filmed and photographed several models at some beach resorts and Ayurvedic massage parlours in

Varkala Varkala is a major coastal municipality and a northern suburb of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. In legends and myths related to Kerala, texts like the Keralolpathi, Kerala Mahatmyam describe the Varkala reg ...

and

Papanasam Papanasam is a Panchayati raj in India, panchayat town in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Kumbakonam. The name literally translates to "Destruction of Sins" in the Tamil language. It ...

, India. Indian police later became aware of the resulting videos, which had been posted on Galitsin-News, and conducted raids on a number of Varkala massage parlours on suspicion of illegal activity.

Arrest

On September 17, 2006, Galitsin and his wife Irina Aleksandrovna Pischasova (who was also one of his models, appearing under the name "Valentina") were arrested in Volgograd,"В Волгограде арестована преступная группа, распространявшая порно через Интернет"
("Criminal group arrested in Volgograd for distributing porn on the Internet"), ''Volgograd Inform'', October 9, 2006. accused of violating

Russian Criminal Code The Russian Criminal Code () is the prime source of the Law of the Russian Federation concerning criminal offences. The 1996 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (UGKRF) came into force on 1 January 1997. The new Criminal Code replaced the So ...

Article 133 ("Coercion hrough blackmail">blackmail.html" ;"title="hrough blackmail">hrough blackmailto commit a sexual act") and s:ru:Уголовный кодекс Российской Федерации#.D0.A1.D1.82.D0.B0.D1.82.D1.8C.D1.8F 242. .D0.9D.D0.B5.D0.B7.D0.B0.D0.BA.D0.BE.D0.BD.D0.BD.D0.BE.D0.B5 .D1.80.D0.B0.D1.81.D0.BF.D1.80.D0.BE.D1.81.D1.82.D1.80.D0.B0.D0.BD.D0.B5.D0.BD.D0.B8.D0.B5 .D0.BF.D0.BE.D1.80.D0.BD.D0.BE.D0.B3.D1.80.D0.B0.D1.84.D0.B8.D1.87.D0.B5.D1.81.D0.BA.D0.B8.D1.85 .D0.BC.D0.B0.D1.82.D0.B5.D1.80.D0.B8.D0.B0.D0.BB.D0.BE.D0.B2 .D0.B8.D0.BB.D0.B8 .D0.BF.D1.80.D0.B5.D0.B4.D0.BC.D0.B5.D1.82.D0.BE.D0.B2">Article 242.1 ("Manufacturing and dissemination of materials or objects containing pornographic images of minors")."Письмо Григория Галицына Президенту РФ"
("Letter from Grigori Galitsin to the President of the Russian Federation") (reposted by erotella), ''Master-X.com'', December 19, 2006 On October 26, he petitioned the Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

and asked for intervention on his behalf. According to a second letter to Putin drafted in May 2007, Galitsin was still in custody awaiting trial. Pischasova was also once again taken into custody in March.Жалоба фотографа Григория Галицына Президенту РФ В.В. Путину
("Complaint by photographer Grigori Galitsin to the President of the Russian Federation, V.V. Putin") (reposted by admin), ''kinoklubnichka.ru forum'', May 18, 2007. Galitsin and his wife were released from prison in early 2009, though Galitsin continued to face further charges. As of October 2014, Galitsin, Irina, and their two children had relocated to

Kalachyovsky District Kalachyovsky District () is an administrativeLaw #139-OD district (raion), one of the thirty-three in Volgograd Oblast, Russia. As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Kalachyovsky Municipal District.Law #994-OD It is located in the sou ...

, where he invested his life savings in an "experimental farm". Here, Galitsin bred and raised

rare breed In modern agriculture, a rare breed is a breed of poultry or livestock that has a very small breeding population, usually from a few hundred to a few thousand. Because of their small numbers, rare breeds may have a threatened conservation statu ...

pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

and

chickens The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

, notably

Mangalica The Mangalica (, also Mangalitsa or Mangalitza) is a Hungarian breed of domestic pig. It was developed in the mid-19th century by crossbreeding breeds from the nearby Romanian Salonta (Hungarian: ''Nagyszalonta'', colloquially ''Szalont ...

pigs. He was no longer active in professional photography, other than as documentation of his farming operation and family life.Счастье фермерства. Волгоградский фотохудожник променял моделей на хрюшек
("Cultivating happiness: Volgograd photographer traded models for pigs") by Sergei Novitski. ''Volgograd

Argumenty i Fakty (, commonly abbreviated "АиФ" and translated as ''Arguments and Facts'') is a weekly newspaper based in Moscow and a publishing house in Russia and worldwide. Since 2014, it has been owned by the Government of Moscow. History and profile It ...

'' weekly #50, October 12, 2014 (posted on web November 12, 2014).

Books

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galitsin, Grigori 1957 births 2021 deaths People from Rozdilna Raion Obscenity controversies in photography Russian erotic photographers