Russia: Out of Statistics Part 1

The imbalance in the financing of Moscow and the regions is striking: in Moscow, tiles are laid on the sidewalks on top of (!) the previous tile, at the same time there are no roads at all in some regions, except for federal highways. New housing projects are being continuously built in Moscow, and people are leaving the regions. Meanwhile the remaining dream of leaving: there is no job, nowhere to study, to be treated. There are towns where, if something is being built, it is most likely by Moscow developers, on the most delicious plots, often replacing the parks or with the demolition of historical buildings.

Gradually, people are separating themselves more and more from both Moscow and the state. As one person in the Bryansk region told me: "We are outside the state statistics. We receive a pension below the subsistence minimum, but we have vegetable gardens for food, mushrooms in forest, hunting and fishing, and we try to earn money, without officially working anywhere. That's why you in Moscow don't know about us. The state is there, in Moscow, but we are here."

I do not set the task to oppose Moscow and the rest of Russia with these photos. I do not set the task to show only the negative side as well. Fortunately, there are many good things. My goal is just to show everyday life outside the capital today.

The photographs presented in the series were shot on black-and-white film with a single-glass monocle lens, which gives a specific soft picture.

Sergey Trapezin 2019