Nikita Teryoshin’s Nothing Personal feels less like a traditional photo book and more like a sharp, cinematic glimpse into a world hidden in plain sight the global arms trade. It’s where the banality of business collides with the gravity of war, where sleek booths and polished floors host deals that determine future conflicts. Teryoshin captures this strange intersection, highlighting moments that oscillate between cold professionalism and absurd spectacle.
Teryoshin’s journey into documenting these arms fairs began during a Vice Magazine assignment in Germany, where he stumbled upon a world that would deeply intrigue him. It sparked the same backstage curiosity he had as a child, following his father around TV sets. This curiosity evolved into his photography, where he sought to capture the unfiltered, the candid, and the fleeting. His approach, informed by his roots in street photography, allows him to find the humor and irony hidden within these serious, sometimes surreal settings.
In Nothing Personal, Teryoshin adopts a flash-heavy style that thoughtfully reveals the contrasts inherent in the arms industry. The title itself speaks to a deeper truth: a world where monumental decisions regarding life and death unfold amidst a veneer of normalcy. Through his lens, he invites viewers to reflect on the complexities of this realm, offering a nuanced perspective that transcends the straightforward narrative of commerce. Teryoshin’s work serves as a poignant reminder of the absurdities of human endeavor, encouraging us to engage with the realities of our collective choices.
written by Nicholas Amato
NICHOLAS AMATO: What initially drew you to explore and document the nuances of the global arms industry?
NIKITA TERYOSHIN: In 2013 I was working with Vice Magazine in Berlin and ended up at a hunting fair in Dortmund. Vice showed me what it looks like when you’re trying to research little stories and, how to just go outside and shoot something, and get an idea of how some go about showing weird stuff, especially at these conventions. I was surprised, of how people of all ages are affected by guns. So some months later I decided to investigate at a professional arms fair.
I think my interest in all kinds of backstages started when I was young. My father was working in television as a set designer, and as a child some- times I would come with him wherever he was working. I found all of the the- atre backstages and set designs mysterious and exciting. So, at some point when I started doing photography, I was still fascinated by these backstage areas and getting a glimpse of things you usually see on TV or the media. I re- alized that somewhat recently. Maybe because I had to write some kind of bi- ography, and, I was thinking of how it came about. Also, my father passed away some years ago, and I thought about how his work affected me. It made me also go to political conventions in Germany or other kinds of fairs, like funeral fairs. Some industrial fairs are featured in my graduation project about dairy cows. The idea was to produce an updated image of what we know as a milk package.
NA: At these arms fair settings, your work highlights candid moments that strike a balance between detachment and vulnerability. How do you approach capturing these fleeting moments and unguarded gestures in your subjects?
NT: I’m coming from doing street photography. So, I was thinking of how to integrate my photography into a documentary style because of its kind of subjective view of things. After the first or second fair, I got the idea not to show faces. I wanted to make more special work and use it as a metaphor for the industry, which doesn’t want to have too much publicity. I think the approach was like to use their own weapons to bring the total absurdity to it. Also, you never know what kind of people attend these fairs. Sometimes they are like, not the typical bad guys, but are just there. It’s more about the system. I think for me as a photographer it’s more interesting to not go there as a machine and to take clean documentary shots, but to look for special moments. Moments that describe more of the absurdity, but also document somehow. So it’s a mix of both. I think I’m an impulsive person in this way of taking pictures. There are some shots of details, for example, the picture with this officer is looking at the satellite. It was like a multimedia truck in Minsk. The officer was there to show what was going on and show how great the truck is. I think he was a bit bored because there were not many people interested in this. He was just staying there and looking at the satellite crews going around. I was just finishing lunch and didn’t have my flash on, but I saw it and took the first pictures as he turned around and asked me if he should probably go to the side, so I could take the perfect picture. I told him no, actually, it was already perfect. I think it also tells something about this world, because of the lack of press coverage, people are like “cooking in their own soup” as we use to say (laughs), and they don’t get too much feedback. Also, I liked the way he fits with the satellite and his uniform, you know, with a hat. He’s like a part of the system somehow.
NA: I appreciate how some of these seemingly mundane moments when viewed more closely or in contrast with other elements in the photo, highlight a sense of absurdity.
NT: I think you need humor for this kind of project or for being at these kind of places. Because if you would think seriously about all this stuff humankind is producing, and so much money being spent there, which means at some point there will be some conflict. If you produce weapons at the end, they are going to be used. I don’t know if, you know, Chekhov’s gun. It’s an idea, from the Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. He had this picture at the beginning of his play, where there is a gun at the wall, and at the end, it’s going to shoot. At this fair, it’s kind of the same thing. First, you see nice installations, and the set design of the booth with bombs there, and some years later, or some months later, they are going to be dropped somewhere. Also for people who are not into the topic, it’s easier to get some more attention to it by using some irony. So you need humor to deal with it. I think it’s important.
NA: Were there any other standout moments or interactions with people attending these fairs that left a lasting impression?
NT: I spoke to some arms producers from Germany when I was working for a magazine. They would check my work before allowing me into the production factory there. One of them told me “Yeah I didn’t know you were an artist”, and he really liked the picture of the satellite. So in the end, I think for the project, the context is important, because some pictures could be just seen as nice street shots or candid shots, so I think it’s good to go through the book, to see different things that are going on there and combine it.
NA: From what you mentioned earlier about the photo you shot from behind the gentleman looking at the satellite, I noticed that your flash wasn’t on at first. That cold, hard flash became a really striking feature. How does this technical choice contribute to capturing the authenticity and spontaneity of these moments?
NT: At the beginning, I tried out both Flash, and I think first without Flash. And for me, the lighting in these exhibition halls I found quite shitty. I mean, some- times for certain pictures they also work quite well without flash. When you see a presentation with a laser show of the jet fighter, I think it’s just the flash destroys a bit of the staging itself and shows things more like a crime scene maybe. I think for me at the end it made the work more straightforward, and the colors work much better. So at some point, I just started using Flash most of the time.
NA: Are there any specific photos within this book that hold the most significance for you?
NT: Well, there is a picture with this huge cake in Abu Dhabi, where the VIPs and special guests are participating in the closing ceremony, and they’re start- ing to eat the cake with small forks. I came across this hall where they did the closing ceremony totally by accident. Then I saw this huge cake with tanks, bombs on it, with an explosion, and jet fighters, like, really celebrating war. I was walking around there and saying, “Oh, this looks like the real battlefield”, because the war there is more staged as a show. But on the other hand, 1000 km from there, they used to do fly attacks against Houthi rebels back in, I think 2019 still. Saudi Arabia and the Emirates were about 1000 km away, and they were bombing schools, buses, and civilians. So it was maybe the most cynical thing I saw. But there is also some weird stuff, like this tank-looking toilet. There are so many things you can’t even imagine until you go to the fair. I already visited 15 countries and 20 fairs, and I’ve seen some wild things. So the idea was also to show it all over the world and share what’s happening, and not to blame this or the other countries, but more like in terms of what the hell are we as the human race doing here?
NA: I find that really interesting. There’s almost a sense of celebration in some of the moments you capture, where countries are selling arms to one another likely to be used against each other later yet the interactions seem cordial and oddly normal in how they’re displayed.
NT: The classic thing is for arms traders to sell weapons to both sides of conflict (laughs). Nowadays, they would say, we need arms for supporting Ukraine, which I also think at this point is important. On the other hand, Putin also could buy European arms or components for his tanks and jet fighters from other countries before the war started, and and even after also with the European money from the gas and oil. Also, for example, I read that France sold him some kind of armored vehicles to defend against riots. Rheinmetall, the German company, which is now talking about the so called “Zeitenwende” (turning point in time), and that the times are changing and we need all the weapons now. So now the politicians and society see that there is no other way but to produce a lot of weapons, to be able to defend yourself. Before this, the company was trying to sell Putin the most modern training ground for his army for roughly €1,000,000,000. So it’s kind of cynical. I started using these marketing quotes from the companies, I found at the fairs mostly, and also researched some on the internet, but most of them I saw with my eyes at the fairs. For example, some of the quotes read “70 Years Defending Peace” by Kalashnikov or “We’re Engineering a Better Tomorrow” by Lockheed Martin. I think it’s also an important part of the book.
NA: While going through your book, the Lockheed Martin quote ‘We’re Engineering a Better Tomorrow’ stood out to me the most because it wasn’t as overt as the others. It didn’t use words like ‘lethal’ or anything overtly threatening, yet its subtlety made it even more alarming. What was your initial thought in including these kinds of quotes to contribute to the broader narrative of your story?
NT: I was thinking that usually you wouldn’t read long text in a photo book or at least not that often. I also didn’t want to write. I mean, at the end there is some text. I thought it would be good to include chapter pages with quotes to guide the narrative and sequencing of the book. Everything is mixed up. So there is not like this country and that country and this fair and that fair, but it works more in terms of how pictures fit together. I think the idea was to let the industry speak for itself. Also, it shows this exclusive thing that they are selling these weapons in a secure place. So they can use slogans like “First See First Kill” by SAAB, who used to produce cars and jet fighters. But then they stopped producing cars and are now just producing jet fighters. This eventually made it to the press, and they had to stop using the slogan. It caused a real shitstorm in Sweden. But I think the quotes may work best because it’s a huge contrast to what they are doing and how they are promoting it. There is a mix of these, more like Or- well-ish quotes and more straightforward quotes by Rheinmetall. It’s a good mix of different styles of marketing because it’s first of all about the trading of arms. And that’s why there is also the cup of coffee on the cover with bombs, because it was also not about a certain country, but more about the business aspect and the coffee, this standard cup of coffee you could find everywhere in the world.
NA: That cup of coffee encapsulated it all for me. When I saw that photo, it felt like ‘business as usual.’ The title, ‘Nothing Personal,’ reflects that senti- ment as well; they have a shared tone. Based on what you’ve explored and documented, what influences or experiences have shaped the development of your work?
NT: I was trying to get more precise with topics and with symbolic pictures, and going more into the details. In terms of sequencing and thinking more about how pictures work together in a medium like a magazine or book. A big part of my work is about animals and the treatment of animals by humans because I think it also tells a lot about how people are dealing with each other. Also, I was working in Russia before the full scale invasion in Ukraine started. The project was about politics and society, how it’s going straight into fascism. And I think these topics of power, politics and animal treatment will remain important to me. My upcoming project is influenced by music and especially by lyrics of David Berman (Silver Jews, Purple Mountains).