About two years ago, I went with my camera to tap into the artistic goldmine that is Russia. Russia had remained an enigma to me, having only seen the images in history books, movies or on the news and heard no first-hand accounts. We therefore had to create our own ideas.

After passing through the gloomy, lackluster entrance and dropping our things off in our 5^th floor hostel room, we headed out. Direction: downtown Moscow.

After the initial culture shock sets in upon seeing the billboards and signs in Cyrillic, it is the immense scale of the city that takes you aback at first. The landscape is riddled with concrete mushrooms, buildings under construction in the middle of nature or simply never completed. This is exemplified in the photo of MAN VS WILD.

Downtown, we pass from six-lane boulevards into small streets populated with old Lada cars in the span of about two minutes. Conversely, there are often several kilometers between subway exits, even in the center of the city. Suffice to say, you’re forced take quite a stroll if you miss your stop…

Large sedans menace the old Ladas, speed limits don’t seem to exist and studded tires (present even in summer) make more noise than the exhaust pipes. The noise is equally deafening in the subway, where the escalators are not those that we are familiar with in France: the steps are about 10cm (4 inches) higher, every other step is numbered and they descend up to 80m (about 263 feet) underground (compare that to the Vieux Lyon station which, as the deepest subway station in Lyon, descends 20m, or 66 feet). The subway halls are also incredibly different. Most are luxurious, with mosaics, marble, paintings, high ceilings and other insane decor. The overly present surveillance Russia is known for holds true in the subway as well; it is almost impossible to take the time for a decent photo. An agent called me out immediately and ordered me to delete the photo in front of him, all without cracking a smile.

Fashion in Moscow meant 100% camouflage on the rainy days and lovely assortments of sandals-and-socks. Also of note is that Nike seemingly only produces the Airmax and Cortez styles in Russia and that gold teeth are a fashion staple (Khwezi, you are always copied, never equaled!).

Cigarettes cost €1.60 and a bottle of Grant’s whiskey is priced at €25. You can find one-liter cans of beer and crab chips and there are fast food places that specialize in stuffed potatoes. The nights are, of course, soaked in vodka. It’s a story that can only be wrapped up through photos!

The following video describes quite well our trip:

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Photo report for Shutter Clothing