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created by Nicolas McDowall
1997
16pp
290 x 200mm (11.5 x 7.9in)
£40
75 copies
signed by Nicolas McDowall
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The little Tsarevich Alexei must be one of the saddest characters
to have trodden the stage of world history. He was born heir to
all the Russias but lived at the wrong time and in a crumbling
body. His haemophilia meant constant pain and little fun. A 'home-movie'
clip shows a clutch of naked, urchin chums diving happily into
a lake. Alexei remains motionless, fully dressed and overseen
by his sailor attendants. When the family met its bloody end at
Yekaterinburg in July 1918, he was at least, so it is believed,
the first to be shot. A famous photograph, the boy looking over
his shoulder, haunts. Figurehead, ruler-by-numbers or human being'
He was hated by so many but provokes immediate sympathy, love
even. Images were distilled from this one photograph and placed
on pages and in relation to each other so that they might aid
contemplation and meditation on the questions raised by this sad
child's short life.
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