Posts Tagged "photojournalism"
Igor & Nikita: Future Train Drivers
Igor and Nikita were hanging out in a park in Voronezh when I met them. They said they were studying to operate trains - either passenger or cargo.
Dima & Liza: Voronezh Highschool Students
I was walking around Voronezh around 10am when I saw these two having a warm moment on a swing. Dima at 195cm was taller than me and I asked him if he was a college student. He said he and Liza were 14 and in high school together. They were skipping class to hang out and chat. Dima said he plays basketball and dunks without much effort. Liza said she likes art and would like to study abroad. When I asked her where, her answer surprised me. 'New York School of Visual Arts.' I didn't expect a young teenager far from Moscow to be familiar with NYC universities.
Ruslan & Evgeny: Voronezh Barbers
The trend of opening men's barber shop has spread beyond Moscow to the regions and Voronezh is a good example, where at least two hip spots have opened in the past year. I visited Mr. Right barber shop, which opened exactly one year ago. Here is a photo of the two young barbers Ruslan and Evgeny that work at Mr. Right. The photo is taken through the window.
Maria: Iron Maiden Fan
Maria was walking with a guitar on her back and sporting an Iron Maiden t-shirt. For some reason, t-shirts of 1970s-1980s rock groups were popular this year in Moscow (especially among those born way after these groups became popular). Though I think it's more of a fashion trend that a sign of music taste for many, Maria said she liked Iron Maiden. She said she played the harp for many heard and then moved over to the flute. She doesn't play the guitar, but was rathering kindly carrying it for her friend. Maria said she really likes physics and may pursue that in university. When I mentioned I switched over to the history faculty after burning out on quantum physics, she pulled a book out of her bag to show me what she was currently reading. It was titled something like "The secrets of quantum physics."
Inga: Voronezh Street Artist
Inga was standing on a main street in Voronezh selling her paintings starting at 150 rubles ($4), her husband at her side. She said that her pre-revolutionary ancestors were aristocrats and that also had Latvian roots, which explains her Scandinavian name (Inga). She said she has been selling paintings on the street for more than a decade, so I asked Inga for the most interesting moment, expecting to hear something about a big sale. Instead, Inga said she used to be quite attractive 10 years ago. One day, a pimp noticed her and tried to get her into the prostitution business, promising large sums of money. When I bought a small painting, she took out a pen and signed her name on the back of it.
Nikita: Voronezh Street Musician
Nikita was talking with a police officer, a girlfriend at his side, when I saw him on a Main Street in Voronezh in central Russia. The street musician, armed with a guitar and microphone, had angered either a store owner or resident on the street and the officer was asking him to move. As he collected his stuff, I chatted with him. He said he rode a motorbike around town, enabling him to avoid the bad traffic in the city. He hoped to upgrade to a Honda and said he would like to open his own motorcycle repair shop. Nikita was talking with a police officer, a girlfriend at his side, when I saw him on a Main Street in Voronezh in central Russia. The street musician, armed with a guitar and microphone, had angered either a store owner or resident on the street and the officer was asking him to move. As he collected his stuff, I chatted with him. He said he rode a motorbike around town, enabling him to avoid the bad traffic in the city. He hoped to upgrade to a Honda and said he would like to open his own motorcycle repair shop.
Alexei: Russian with Spanish Roots (2)
I asked Alexei, the brutual death metal musician, if he was from Moscow. He said yes, but that he wasn't 100% Russian. I expected him to say Ukrainuan, Bulgarian or some other East European background. He said he was part Spanish and that thise roots go back to his great grandparents, communists who first fought Franco in the 1930s before coming to the Soviet Union to fight Nazi Germany.
Alexei: Russian with Spanish Roots
I will continue with the music theme today before moving on to Voronezh portraits. I saw Alexei in his unusual boots and just had to stop him for a chat. Just as he told me he played 'brutual death metal,' some other guy also noticed Alexei and came over to join us. The other guy interrupted me and started talking to Alexei about boots, music and something else, but I couldn't understand him well as he was quite intoxicated and his words slurred. Alexei gave him some change and he walked away, a bottle of dark liquor sticking out of his bag. Alexei then told me a bit more about his music and that he was also studying computer programming. He ended our conversation with his family history that I will share in my next post of Alexei.
Andrei: Voronezh Street Musician
Russia Street Musician Series: Andrei strumming his guitar as people walk by him in the Voronezh street underpass.
Andrei was playing a guitar in a pedestrian underpath below one of Voronezh's main roads. He said he lives in the suburbs and studies math and physics. He said he may become a teacher
Zhenya: Street Musician Near Kremlin
Zhenya was taking a cigarette break when I saw him with his red guitar in a side street a stone's throw from Red Square. He said he was born in Ukraine and then moved to a small town in Rostov oblast, near the Ukraine border. A welder, Zhenya says people in Moscow put too much emphasis on money and material goods and that society has become more divided as a result. He said he prefers small town life.
