Capturing Russia from white to black, north to south, east to west

Posts Tagged "documentary"

Village Children from Vladimir Region

                      Visited a farm in a village about 120km from Moscow. After the farm visit, I took a walk around the village and saw about 8 children and teenagers playing what seemed to be war games in front of their home as their parents worked nearby. Quite a few of them were brothers and cousins. I will post a few portraits of them. He was probably the youngest - and perhaps therefore the shiest - of the group of kids playing in the village. I didn't initially notice the toy gun in the top pocket (left side of photo). Another of the boys from the village 120km from Moscow. He chose the pose himself...begs the question what he watches. Another boy from the village doing his best job to fulfill the old stereotype that 'Russians don't smile. This boy from the village wanted to show me his gymnastic skills. He was the most outgoing of the group snd practiced a few Englidh words with me, He was playing what seemed to be some sort of 'cops & robbers' or war games with his friends, using a concrete cylinder as a hiding place. You can see his friend in the background with a toy machine gun as well as the concrete cylinder.

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Krygyz Bread Seller in Moscow

Ruzali comes from Kyrgyzstan and works in a small kiosk at a market selling fresh bread. I photographed him as he leaned partially out the small window that he transacts through. He said he has been living in Russia for about four years, sending money he earns home to his family.

Calcutta Kiosk Owner in Moscow

I have bought chewing gum from him at his very small kiosk stand near a Moscow metro for the past 11 months, but only recently asked him about himself. He said his name is Habib and came to Russia more than a decade ago from Calcutta, India to study medicine... following the steps of one of his relatives, who studied medicine in Russia during Soviet times. Habib got his medical degree and would have returned to Calcutta he says .... had he not fallen in love with another med student from Russia. He says he works at a hospital in addition to working at the kiosk.

Tajik Butcher in Moscow (2)

This Tajik-native has been working at Dorogomilovsky as a butcher for about 10 years. I asked him what he recommends and he was quick to answer: Dagastani lamb. He said the meat was soft and tasty.

Azeri Fruit Seller in Moscow

I am going to post a few portraits from popular Moscow food market Dorogomilovsky, where i spent an hour shooting and talking with some workers. I will kick it off with the oldest veteran I met. This Baku-native said he has been working at the market for more than two decades. He sells fruits and vegetables. When I passed by, he was completing an order for one of my favorite Moscow restaurants. He said business has gotten tougher. 

Georgian Fruit Seller in Moscow

She sells fresh and dried fruit from the Caucasus and Central Asia at the Moscow food market. Like many workers there, she grew up far from Moscow. She said she was Georgian, but raised in Abkhazia, and moved to Tblisi after the Georgia-Abkhaz war.

Refugee from Uzbekistan

Moscow Portrait: Normally, I walk up to people and ask to take their photos. He walked up to me as I ate a pirozhki near a Kiosk and asked "are you a journalist?" I have been asked that quite alot over the years in Russia and I assume it is because I am a foreigner carrying a camera in a non-touristic neighborhood/region. He told me an interesting story, though I have not sought to verify it. He said he was from Bukhara in Uzbekistan and fled for fear of arrest. He said he often criticized his government, that one of his brothers is in jail while another is living in my hometown of Brooklyn, having received political asylum. He said he hopes to get political asylum in Europe or the US. In the meantime, he lives in Moscow working as a volunteer at an NGO. 
 

Russia-NYC Series 33

The young man on the left in the NYC shirt and his uncle come from a small village on the shore of Lake Issyk Kul in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan. The young man said he graduated with a law degree, but as there were no jobs at home, came to Russia. He said he worked 2.5 years on Yamal Peninsual, Russia's main gas producing region, which lines on the Arctic circle. He loved the region's nature, but found it tough to bear -45c. Now he works as a cashier in Moscow and says he is satisfied with the work and pay. He dreams of earning enough to buy a car and build himself a home in is village in Kyrgyzstan. He then showed me a few photos of his village at the foot of Lake Issuk Kul with the Tian Shan Mountains rising in the background. 
 

Russia-NYC Series 30

Gino was hanging out with a friend in front of the Kremlin wall in Moscow on a sunny summer evening in his Brooklyn hat. Gino, who speaks very good Russian, said he and his friend were from Congo and that he has been living in Russia for about 5 years. He said his mother lives in Washington, DC and he hoped to visit her this year. His says his future plans on where to live and what to do are still undecided.

Russia-NYC Photo Series 24

If the outdoor market in Elista, Kalmykia tells you anything, it's that this region of Russia isn't doing well economically, something expressed in the number of young Kalmyks traveling to other regions for work. I saw Murat at the outdoor market in Elista in his NYC shirt. He said he came from Uzbekistan to work in Elista...an indication that the work/wage situation in Uzbekistan isn't any better.

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