lobanov made frequent references to the psychiatric institution or staff surrounding him, including a portrait of himself as a young boy shooting a male nurse with a revolver, and a depiction of his institution with enormous rifles acting as support columns. in the 1970s, lobanov took an intense interest in photography. his photographic portraits were similar to his drawings as he would stage himself, creating his own environment and firearms from cardboard paper with ornaments and communist symbols drawn onto the prints.