Boris Smelov, Petit-Boris (March 13, 1951 — January 18, 1998) was a Russian and Soviet photographer considered a master of still life, portraits, and urban landscapes.
[2] In 1968, at one of the meetings of the photo club of the Vyborg Palace of Culture, Smelov met Boris Kudryakov, who introduced him to the circle of Konstantyn Kuzminsky.
In those years he did not have a personal laboratory — Smelov developed the films and printed his photos in the Leonid Borganov's darkroom located at the Palace of Culture for workers of the food industry (DC «Pishevik»).
During Perestroika, Boris Smelov began to participate in exhibitions intensively in USSR and abroad including Great Britain, Germany, United States, Finland, Norway, among others.
Boris Smelov's works can be found in private and public collections in Russia, USA, France, Sweden, Italy, Great Britain, Germany and Austria.
[6] From 1974 to 1976 Smelov was in a relationship with clandestine street photographer Masha Ivashintsova, whose works were discovered by her relatives in the family attic and made public.