©Nata Drachinskaya, Book Cover, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, Book Cover, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, Spread from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, Spread from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

I felt a kindred spirit in Nata Drachinskaya as I paged through her two-volume exploration of family memories as well as the mystery surrounding her father’s work as a cryptographer for the KGB for 25 years during the final days of the Soviet Union and beyond.  But unlike the mysteries surrounding the work of my father as a spy for the US Air Force during the height of the Cold War in Germany, Drachinskaya had no clues concerning the work of her father until his tragic suicide in 2001.  This tragedy prompted an investigation into the true nature of her father’s work which had been hidden completely from the family for most of her life.  The two volumes, ironically entitled “Binom“, published by Blow Up Press, reflect the dual facets of her father’s life as well as the structure of the photographic array.

One volume delves heavily into the often happy and normal family life of a mid-level employee of the government of the Soviet Union (albeit the KGB that had its own perks).  There were long summer vacations in Crimea or constructing and enjoying a summer dacha in the countryside for the family’s pleasure.  The parents worked hard to ensure that their two daughters were properly prepared for university educations and the future.  But the future came crashing down upon Drachinskaya’s father as the collapse of the Soviet Union and the free-market frenzy that overtook Russia in the 1990’s presented unexpected obstacles to a man constrained by a government salary that failed to keep up with the times.  These pressures ultimately led to bouts of alcoholism and ultimately to an untimely suicide on the balcony of the family’s apartment.

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

The second volume of Binom pieces together what Drachinskaya discovered about her father’s official life in service to the KGB after his death, none of which she was aware of during his life.  It is this aspect of the two books which is most wrenching and ironic…a man who devoted his working life to cryptography, (defined as “any of various mathematical techniques for encrypting and decrypting data in order to keep it private when transmitted or stored electronically”) was able to completely hide his 25-year career from his two daughters.  The photographs depicting his rise through the ranks of the KGB in uniforms of various eras contrast sharply with the bucolic images of Crimean vacations and dacha repairs in the family volume.  It is at this point in viewing both tomes that one is directly confronted with the conflict of history and memory as they relate to family.  Drachinskaya manages to address them all directly with a sincere investigation of the family archives, memorabilia and the historical record that she is allowed to peruse…there remains the nagging question of what remains that time and circumstance prevent her from discovering.

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

Drachinskaya notes that as she “reflected on the duality of human nature, it struck me that many Soviet individuals and families lived a parallel, hidden life.  This could be connected to secret services or dissident movements.  To some extent, this duality became the norm within society.  Many Russians still hold on to this habit today.  I believe it is one of the main factors contributing to the current passivity among Russians, not to mention the influence of propaganda…I want to show how the story of one family can reflect the story of a big country and how vital it is to know your family’s history in order to think critically.  The larger history of nations is woven from family stories, individual lives, and the choices people make.”

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

©Nata Drachinskaya, from, BINOM, published by Blow Up Press

Binom received the LUMA Rencontres Dummy Book Award – the main prize – in Arles, 2025, and was previously shortlisted for the Photobook Award EI (Braga, 2023) and the APhF Dummy Award (Athens, 2024). It was published by BLOW UP PRESS in 2026.

Nata Drachinskaya is a visual artist working with photography, sculpture, paper, and mixed media. Her practice investigates the intersection of personal memory and collective history – how difficult pasts shape present identity, and how the reconstruction of archives, materials, and narratives becomes a way of moving forward. Born in the USSR and raised in Moscow, she graduated from the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Moscow and has participated in residencies and workshops in Russia, Georgia, Japan, and Hungary. She left Russia in 2022 and now lives in California, where she teaches at the Pacific Art League.

Nata Drachinskaya’s work has been exhibited at the Multimedia Art Museum (Moscow), the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art (Moscow), Reminders Photography Stronghold (Tokyo), Griffin Museum of Photography (Winchester, USA), New Museum (Los Gatos, USA), Pacific Art League (Palo Alto, USA), Nick Gallery (Pécs, Hungary), Art Kvartal (Yerevan), Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum, and Street Sans Frontières (Paris), among other venues.

Website: drachinskaya.com

Instagram: @drachinskaya

Blow Up Press

Established in 2012, BLOW UP PRESS (BUP) is a family run publisher of photobooks and lens-based art books. Originally online publisher, BUP switched to paper in 2016. Since then it has become a recognisable producer of sophistically designed books dealing with thought-provoking topics, following the motto When the story matters. BUP collaborates with emerging and established photographers from around the world. Next to the books, BUP also publishes doc! photo magazine dedicated to contemporary photography. Since 2020, BUP organises annual contest BUP Book Award which goal is to promote photobooks as a way of communicate important subjects.

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