Posts Tagged "brooklyn"
Russia-NYC Photo Series 19
The skies opened up and rain poured down when I saw Mikhail in his Brooklyn shirt in Moscow. Neither of us had an umbrella, yet he didn't mind chating or being photographed in the rain. He said he grew up in the former Soviet republic of Moldova. While working at an Italian restaurant in Moscow, he fell in love with a co-worker ... though he didn't start dating her until he changed jobs. She is from the Moldavan breakaway region of Pridnestrovie. They are now married and will be having their first child soon. He says they will continue to rent in Moscow as apartment prices and mortgages (avg ~12%) are too expensive - an all to common complaint. On a separate note, this is the second guy I spoke with this summer who married a co-worker from a Moscow restaurant - both women were from Pridnestrovie.
Russia-NYC Photo Series 18
Both Vitali and Alexei are from Novosibirsk, the so-called capital of Siberia. Both attend Moscow State University, where I ran into them. Both are studying oil and gas engineering....and both are wearing NYC-themed shirts. Alexei, on the right, said he bought the shirt in Thailand, which is one of the top five foreign destinations for Russian tourists, attracting more than 1mln a year. It takes roughly the same time to fly to Thailand from Novosibirsk as it does to Italy (7hrs).
Russia-NYC Photo Series 17
Zhenya, a loan officer for Russia's largest bank Sberbank, was walking in the southern city Stavropol this summer in his Brooklyn shirt. It reminded me of t-shirts made by Brooklyn Industries. I just happened to meet Zhenya on a street that had a huge advertisement by the clothing store New Yorker. With Russia's economic growth coming in much lower than expected, Zhenya just may be busier these days trying to recover loans rather than dispense new ones.
Russia-NYC Photo Series 13
Russia-NYC Photo Series 12
Moscow has a reputation of being a cold city both literally and figuratively. I have heard people say on a few occasions something along the lines: 'Moscow is a place for earning money, not living.' But you will see many 'warm' moments that will convince you otherwise if you stroll through the city's parks on nearly any given day. This photo of a young guy in a Brooklyn shirt and his girlfriend was taken at the Moscow 'Color Festival' this summer ... though it may actually be a bit above a 'warm' moment on the temperture scale.
Russia-NYC Photo Series 10
Roma, who lives in Moscow region, was wearing his Brooklyn Bridge shirt as he visited the Olympic Ski Resort Roza Khutor in Sochi with his family. His dad said Roma may want to serve in the armed forced when he is older, adding it has become "prestigious" again to do so. His father's words reminded me of an interview I had more than a decade ago with a former Russian officer, who said he left to work in business exactly because it was no longer "prestigious" to serve and moral low. Indeed, since that interview in early 2000s, salaries for the Russian armed forces have risen significantly and equipment/living conditions updated.
Russia-NYC Photo Series 8
Vlad was standing with his girlfriend outside a metro station in northwestern Moscow. Vlad said he bought the shirt because he likes the Brooklyn Nets, which is owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov. Vlad is a fire-fighting specialist for the Russian Emergency Ministry, which probably explains his big physique.
Russia-NYC Photo Series 6
Zhenya, a dancer and DJ from Nizhny Novgorod in central Russia, was visiting a tattoo convention in Moscow when I saw him. He had just gotten a tattoo on his upper left arm. Zhenya said he bought his Brooklyn bikers cap in NYC last year during a work trip.
Russia-NYC Photo Series 1
I am kicking off my Russia photo project with the oldest person I found wearing NYC-labeled clothing. I was walking through the beat-up outdoor market in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, a Russian region that borders the Caspian Sea, when I saw these gentlemen. The guy on the left was wearing a baseball cap with Brooklyn written on it and I stopped to chat with him and his friend. He said he was a mechanical engineer and had traveled around the former Soviet Union on various projects. He said he was was approaching 80yo, while his friend, seated next to him, was past 80. The seated man on the right said he ran a kiosk at the market, but that times were tough. "There are no jobs, no wages, no factories. All the young people are leaving for Moscow or other cities." Kalmykia, a Buddhist region with Mongol roots, lies in the steppe, making it suitable for livestock breeding but not for manufactoring, ect, explaining in part why many leave seeking employment elsewhere. The 80yo guy on the right is holding what appears to be a man-bag, which had been popular in Russia some years back.
Russia-NYC Photo Series
One August summer evening last year, I walked 30 minutes from my Moscow office, through Red Square, to my apartment. During that stroll, I saw 4 people wearing shirts with the world Brooklyn, my home town. Thereafter, I paid a bit more attention to what people in Russia were wearing and was surprised how many people wear something with NYC/Brooklyn theme. I took a series of 50+ photos of random people around Russia with such NYC-labeled clothing over the past few monghs....not to prove that Russians like NYC (though many do)....Rather, I saw it as a way to tell stories about Russia - which many friends in NYC don't know well - through everyday people connected only by the NYC-themed clothing. There is no political angle to this series. I managed to get people in six different Russian cities, from north to south to east, from 15yo to 80yo. I will post about a dozen or so of my favourites ones from the series and hope to continue the project over the coming months. It's a great way to connect with complete strangers in this fascinating country.
