Ruslan Lobanov - playing a spy

"Playing a spy" by Ruslan Lobanov,

Ruslan Lobanov is a Ukrainian photographer globally renowned for his refined black-and-white nude photographs in which women play a central role.

Photo from a 2023 shoot in the Kyiv region for a book published in 2024 ("secrets"), thus in a country at war for almost two years. Lobanov stages this shoot in a French café setting, see inscriptions on the windows.
As often, Lobanov pre-prints in a limited series a few photos from the forthcoming book in advance. This print (bearing the number 83/100) was imported directly from Ukraine, a limited series of 110 copies, of which 100 are numbered from 001 to 100 and 10 are off-number PA prints for close associates of the artist.
XL size in 46 x 46 cm each; not to be confused with 24 x 36 prints produced in 5,000 copies, for example, by YellowKorner Editions.

Some photos are presented with a black 50 x 70 cm passe-partout to illustrate the finished look when framed, but the photo is sold without the passe-partout. Shipped in a rigid protective roll.

Lobanov is a great glamour photographer, comparable to Man Ray, Helmut Newton, Franck de Mulder, Karl Lagerfeld, P Demarchelier …