VALERY KATSUBA (Belarus, 1965)."Atleta y el torso de Dionisio Real Academia de BBAA San Fernando", 2015.Analogue photograph on hand-printed C-Print photographic paper adhered to aluminium. Copy 1/6.Work published in the catalogue "La tradición académica", Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid, 2017.Measurements: 100 x 96 cm; 103,5 x 99 cm (frame).This work belongs to a set that was exhibited at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of Saint Petersburg and the City Council of Madrid, among other institutions.Valery Katsuba was born in the village of Sergeevichi (Minsk region, Republic of Belarus), the son of a forester (Vladislav Katsuba) and the headmaster of the village school (Yanina Katsuba). The second of three children, his interest in literature, history and art, as well as sport, was forged in part through the enthusiasm of his teachers. After finishing school at the age of 16, he went to study at the Admiral Makarov Higher School of Marine Engineering in Leningrad (now the Admiral Makarov State Maritime Academy, St. Petersburg), where he completed a degree in meteorology at the Arctic Faculty with honours. He then began postgraduate research under the guidance of Academician Vladlen Adamenko. It was at this time that he met journalist Sergey Kalinin and art historian Catherine Phillips, and under their influence began working in journalism. He produced pieces for St. Petersburg radio and television and for BBC radio and television, and wrote about the art of St. Petersburg and Moscow in the Perestroika era for Kommersant, The Guardian, The Independent, Vogue Paris and others. He abandoned his graduate studies, recognising that his vocation lay in art. In the late 1990s, she began collaborating with Vogue magazine, which set up a Russian edition, as well as with W Magazine, Elle and others, producing photo shoots for renowned photographers such as Arthur Elgort, Neil Kirk, Philip-Lorca di Corcia and stylist Katharina Flohr. . and Carin Roitfeld. In 2002, he began shooting with his own Hasselblad, a gift from Neil Kirk, who would become the first collector of his work.