Russia Project

Second Russia article-- The Durham Herald-Sun ran a longer article on Sunday April 20, 2008 as the section front of the Perspectives section. Take a look!

Russia in print--The Charleston (WV) Sunday Gazette-Mail ran an article Eric wrote about the Russia project on March 14, 2008. Read more.

Read a blog of daily notes and discoveries from the 2008 trip, along with a few more images.

Read a series of articles orginially published in the Charleston Gazette-Mail in 1993 and 1994.

Click on the thumbnails to see larger images. This compilation compares many of the same people and places from the 90s to today. Read the captions for each image by rolling your mouse over the thumbnail.

January 1993, Moscow . This night shot of Red Square, St. Basil's Cathedral and the Moscow Kremlin shows the first Christmas tree on Red Square erected since the Communist Revolution.
February 2008, Moscow . The Red Square today is bustling with activity and life. Muscovites love to walk and be outside on the open square.
May 1995, Korolev. Andrey with a puppy. He was playing outside at his family dacha, just being a kid with a puppy.
February 2008, Korolev. Andrey today. He is just about to graduate from the University where he is studying business. He also works for a fish processing plant where he hopes to advance after graduation.
February 2008, Sergiev Posad. The Church of the Annunciation in what is the center for the Russian Orthodox Church. Even with the snow on the ground and freezing temperatures, the faithful come out to worship.
October 1994, Gorky Park . Masha gets cotton candy in Moscow . Her mother spoke excellent English and was able to expose her to the West at an early age, through a series of educational exchange programs.
February 2008, Korolev. Masha is studying business at a university in Moscow and hopes to have a career in the fashion industry. While she doesn't want to be a model, she enjoys it when she gets the chance through a friend's fur shop.
February 2008, Moscow . Work crews work to restore a church inside the Moscow Kremlin. Throughout the country, churches are being restores and built anew.
March 1994, Korolev. Maria and her granddaughter Masha spend time at home. They are part of an extremely close knit family—as are most families in Russia .
February 2008, Korolev. Even though Masha lived in America a while and works in Moscow , she still lives with her parents and grandmother and the family is still extremely close.
March 1994, Korolev. Anton tries on new clothes, gifts from visiting Americans. His father owned his own business, but the family still lived in a cramped apartment.
February 2008, Korolev. Anton is now a university student and has his own bedroom, in a sprawling house with an in-ground pool built beneath the house. His room is nearly as big as his old apartment.
September 1994, Ismailovo. This pensioner was selling English language books at the flea market, supplementing her income as inflation made retirements evaporate.
February 2008, Ismailovo. Shoppers find everything imaginable at the enormous flea market in Moscow . Tourist goods such as souvenirs are available, but so are appliances and clothes for the average Muscovite.
March 1994, Moscow . The streets light up with tail lights from the traffic around the Moscow Kremlin.
February 2008, Moscow . The central fountain in the Exhibition Center is turned off for the winter. The center is being restored to its former glory after becoming a flea market through much of the 90s.
November 1994, Korolev. Students at School #11 ran outside just as the snow stopped falling to find six fresh inches on the ground.
February 2008, Korolev. Kids are kids and the chance to play in snow after school is too great an opportunity to miss, even in a place like Russia where snow is a part of life.
March 1994, Korolev. Vegetables and Fruit. The signs on the stalls explain what shoppers can buy from the vendors on the street. Distribution problems made it difficult to buy fresh goods in the stores, but farmers delivered goods to the cities themselves.
February 2008, Moscow . A new underground mall attracts shoppers and their money. This mall was built within a few hundred yards of Red Square and the Kremlin wall.
January 1993, Moscow . Families play in the snow on the grounds of the Novadevichy Monastery.
February 2008, Moscow . Skaters enjoy an ice rink erected on Red Square , directly across from Lenin's Tomb, between GUM, a high end mall, and the Moscow Kremlin.
September 1994, Zhostovo. A tray painter practices a traditional art form, hand painting on black lacquer trays.
February 2008, Korolev. Students learn traditional painting styles, practicing on paper before committing their designs to traditional objects.
January 1993, Moscow . A babushka walks down the snowy street in front of a statue of Prince Yuri Dolgoruki, the founder of Moscow .
February 2008, Sergiev Posad. A babushka takes a break from her walk to rest on a bench, nearly buried in snow.
September 1994, Moscow . A dance school in Moscow trains ballerina to be their best. These dancers were 11 years old.
October 1994, Korolev. A young student tentatively practices his English lessons at School #11.
February 2008, Korolev. Students pay respects to their teacher and their country at the Russia School , a new magnet school founded in Korolev.
February 2008, Korolev. Nadia talks to her Orthodox Priest, after being baptized into the church. She grew up without an church tradition in her family and just discovered faith in the last few years.
Janaury 1993, Korolev. Concentrating in class, students at this school study their lessons in quiet. One of the biggest problems facing schools after the break up of the Soviet Union was a lack of modern text books and teaching curriculums.
February 2008, Korolev. Students study math in a classroom at the Russia School . Modern techniques including charter and magnet-style schools bring Russian students up to the standards of the West.
January 1993, Korolev. Kindergarten students stop for a lunch break of soup and black bread.
February 2008, Korolev. A student in a physics class studies an electrical circuit.
September 1994, Sergiev Posad. A group of monks moves in a processional at the patriarchate of the Orthodox Church.
February 2008, Sergiev Posad. A priest in training enters the grounds of Sergiev Posad. The facility is still a monastery, but also seminary and a school to train icon painters.
November 1994, Korolev. A shy girl is a little wary of an American in her school, School #11.
February 2008, Korolev. Four teens pose for the camera at School #11, not shy at all for a visiting photographer.
September 1994, Korolev. A young couple has just gotten married at the Wedding Palace in Korolev. This was a non-religious ceremony. Today, the wedding palace is gone.

 
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