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

Posts Tagged "life"

Babushka Nina from Voronezh

Nina was sitting on the swing, reading a newspaper one a cold, damp day in Voronezh. As I walked by, she asked for the time, so I stopped for a chat. She said she was turning 80 and tries to get out every day for a walk, despite a bad foot. She said she had a stroke many years ago and refused to take her doctor's advice to just stay in bed. Nina said that determination to keep moving helped her recover. She said she worked as an accountant at some engineering plant for decades till the turmoil of the 1990s, when around age 60 she was forced to became a merchandise trader - traveling to Moscow to buy goods and selling them for a profit in Voronezh. She said she did that to help her children and grandchildren. She said she took up sewing after her husband died in the 80s and that skill came in handy during the tough 1990s, when she often made clothes for her family. That turmoil may have shaped her philosophy of 'live for today' rather than saving money for the future (which can become worthless in times of crisis as she most likely knows from experience.)

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

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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. 

Misha: Cameraman

Misha, a cameraman, and I discussed playing sports in our youth. He shared an anecdote that reflected how unstable the 1990s were in Russia post the collapse of the Soviet Union. He mentioned that sport clubs or teams would often form only to disolve a year later for a lack of funding, leaving young people searching for a wsy to continue a sport they started.

Maria: Serbian Roots (2)

Maria said the 1990s were a very difficult period economically. Thus, she - like many others in Russia - decided to only have one child. She said she regrets not having a second child, adding her son may not be so egotistical if he had other siblings.

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.

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 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.

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.

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