Posts Tagged "portrait"
Ilya: Sakhalin’s Colorful Teenager
Sporting long, multi-colored hair, several facial piercings, penciled eyebrows and sneakers, Ilya, 16, was not someone I expected to meet on the cold, oil and gas region of Sakhalin Island. The teenager, who was taking his three-year old sister to the playground, said he attracted a lot of unwanted attention. ''It is difficult, but I am used to it. My mother is supportive [of my style], but not my father.'' Ilya said he has some Spanish roots and that his family was moving to Spain in a few weeks. While he said he was happy to leave Sakhalin ''as there is nothing for me to do here,'' he doesn't want to live in Spain either. ''I would like to live in Moscow or St. Petersburg,'' said Ilya, who wants to pursue a career in fashion.
Veteran Doctor on Sakhalin
Sakhalin: He was walking in the center of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in a traditional Russian winter hat around 5pm, perhaps returning home from work. He said he was born in Sumy in Eastern Ukraine, studied medicine at Moscow's top medical university and interned there as a paramedic. For the past 37 years, he has been working as a physical therapist on Sakhalin Island, a Russian oil and gas province in the Pacific off Japan.
Sergei: Vladivostok Journalist
Sergei, 57, a Vladivostok journalist, has shelves at home filled with American films and western music and he knows rock-n-roll better than many westerners. He recalls the years albums were published and how many albums various groups recorded. The Beatles and Led Zepplin are among his favorite bands. He has coffee table books on The Beatles and Rolling Stones with photos. It doesn't mean he shares the same affinity for western or American policy. ''American culture is close to me - movies, music. I grew up on it. But I separate Americans and American culture from the American government.''
Lera: Vladivostok Fashionista
Lera, a Vladivostok high school student, was wearing black-rimmed glasses as a fashion statement as she walked the streets with her friend, both in Doc Martin boots. ''My classmates look at me oddly, '' she said, adding that she is happy to attract attention for her unusual style. Lera says she orders some of her clothing through the Internet because ''it is difficult to find interesting stuff'' at stores in Vladivostok.
Ye Ji: Korean 12 years in Russia
Ye Ji moved with her parents to Russia 12 years ago from Korea, living initially in Irkutsk in Siberia near Lake Baikal. She is now studying law in Vladivostok and says her co-students ''treat me like a Russian rather than a foreigner.'' Ye Ji said she is looking forward to moving back home when she finishes her university degree. ''I have lived in Russia for so long, its about time I lived in my own country.''
Alina: Marilyn Manson Fan
Alina (right) and Sasha were eating fast food and drinking milk shakes on a sunday Friday afternoon at Royal Burger, the McDonald's of Russia's Far East region. Alina, an 8th grader, said she liked rap and hard rock, adding that her favorite musicians were Marilyn Manson and Oliver Sykes. She said she came across Marilyn Manson and his music through the Internet.
Igor: Vladivostok Designer, Entrepreneur
Igor, 24, has owned a bar, cleaned up cemeteries and developed an app for an iPhone in his varied working career in Vladivostok. Now he has opened a fashion boutique featuring some of his own creations. He says he has more ideas for businesses, but it is tough getting support from his family. ''My parents don't understand me,'' he said. ''They are from the Soviet period and I am from the capitalist period. They say 'Why don't you go get a government job? But us children of the 1990s - we are grown up and have some money to start our own businesses.''
Polina: Vladivostok Guitarist
Polina, 21, was holding her electric guitar as she waited in the center of Vladivostok for her friend, who is also the singer in their 4-person band. While her group plays a lighter rock, Polina said she loves heavy metal. ''There is a new wave of metal,'' she said. ''It appeals to young people who don't want to be constrained by standards and comfort.''
Oleg: Gardner & Coin Collector
Oleg, a gardner and coin collector, was choosing books from a shelf placed on the street in front of the Vladivostok library to stimulate reading. He pulled out two Czarist coins dating from 1777 from a small flip book to show me and photograph with. When his wife, who was standing behind him looking through books, heard from a Russian colleague that I was an American, she warned her husband from having his picture taken.
Nikita: Heavy Metal Lover, Folk Musician
Nikita walked up to me in the center of Vladivostok and asked for a light. He was dressed in leather from head to toe and said he loved heavy metal. He said his favorite group was St. Petersburg-based metals band 'Infernal Fuck.' I asked if he had his own group. He said he played the contrabass in a folk music ensembles and always wore a traditional costume when he played such as red boots. I asked him about the contrast between what he liked and what he played. ''Metal is my style, but I can combine things,'' he said, open his leather jacket wider to show a conservative-styled gray sweater between his leather jacket and metal print t-shirt.
