Boris Smelov became a legend of St. Petersburg’s photography during his lifetime. He was a living classic who evoked veneration from all who were somewhat connected to the art of ‘photography’. The image of St. Petersburg that he created is not only high quality photographs but, undoubtedly the most eloquent utterance ever said about that city at the end of the last century, an utterance equal to Brodsky’s poetry in its significance. His Apollo from the series of photographs of the Summer Garden sculptures is a photo of a proud marble profile of the ancient god with trickling raindrops and a crawling spider. This photo was reproduced repeatedly and became a symbol of St Petersburg culture of the end of the 20th century, a symbol that was so rich in content and significance that it could tell more about Petersburg - Petrograd - Leningrad - St. Petersburg than the most solid collected papers from research conferences. (http://mastersofphotography.blogspot.nl/2011/07/boris-smelov.html)