Posts Tagged "documentary"
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 15
Yana waa strolling near the boardwalk in Sochi near sunset time on day in August. She said she grew up in the Caspian Sea town of Aktau in Kazakhstan, and comes to Sochi every year as her grandmother lives there. Of the nearly 20 Russians I photographed in Sochi, three were raised in Central Asia. Yana said she will be attending university in Prague to study international business.
Russia-NYC Photo Series 13
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 7
Zhenya was wearing a NYC shirt while practicing extreme biking in a sport center in Krasnoyarsk, a Siberian city 2,000 miles (3,200km) from Moscow. Zhenya said he bought the shirt during a trip to NYC for a break dancing competition. He said he started breakdancing when he was in kindergarden and that it's now popular in his school. His school break dancing team has won a few championships in Russia, he said.
Russia-NYC Photo Series 5
I first noticed Karin on the streets of Volgograd thanks to his bright orange hat. Then I noticed his "New York 1986" shirt. He said he was from the former Soviet Republic of Tajikistan, an unstable country bordering Afghanistan. Like many if his countrymen, he had come to Russia to work due to low salaries, few jobs at home. He said he was working on a construction site for the summer in Volgograd (former Stalingrad).
Russia-NYC Photo Series 3
A portrait of the young girl from the Russian Arctic peninsula of Yamal sporting her "I ❤️NY" winter hat.
Russia-NYC Photo Series 2
These girls are Khanti, one of the native Siberian ethnic groups, and they live on Yamal peninsula, a slither of Russia on the Arctic circle that is the gas equivalent of Saudi Arabia. These girls were attending a local annual festival and were dressed in ethnic clothing...except for their hats. The one on the left is wearing a winter cap with the words: "I ❤️ NY."
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.
