PHOTOGRAPHY IN MOSCOW

THE CITY OF CONTRADICTION

I named this trip as a “no-dream come true”. Moscow is the city that everyone knows, that everyone has seen in the pictures and that everyone knows how far, cold and unreachable is. Therefore, I honestly never thought visiting it was an option because of course, I had another more appetizing destinations in my list.

But this time what wasn’t even a dream came true; the opportunity was there and I could not let it slip. May the meaning of the life be in such a remote and cold place? We’ll find out.

If I had to choose 2 words to define Moscow, I would choose:

Impacting and Contradicting

Impacting because of the huge square and symmetrical buildings, super-wide streets, enormous avenues and the maybe fictitious but present legacy of a tough Soviet Union imperialism.

Contradicting because of the different iconography and propaganda you find within the city; for me, the most representative example of this discrepancy is the proximity, both in the Red Square of Lenin’s Mausoleum and the luxury ГУМ mall:

But one of the things I enjoyed most during my visit was that I did not have data connection while I was walking around the streets (Because of Russia being out of the UE). Usually I’d be chatting with my friends or sending them pictures as I visited the most iconic places, but this time I only could focus on the real stuff, and in taking pictures, of course. The feeling that there was no one else with me – not even online – allowed me to spend a good time on my own.

Russia is such a different country from any I had visited before. I don’t want to generalize, but maybe because people does not speak much English or because of their character, I felt Russian people to be very distant at least at the beginning. Another thing that caught my attention was the high amount of police and military that I could see in the streets. I never felt insecure not even at night, but being honest, if at some point I was to be afraid, it was more likely to be about the police than to the pedestrians.

I guess that military to be mandatory still nowadays has a lot to do with this.

Buildings have very different personalities through the city. From the colorful, curved and imaginative churches to the straight, dominant and right-angled governmental office or administrative edification.

But not only Moscow’s streets are beautiful and interesting. There is another secret gem hidden under its pavements, and it is the Metro.

The stations are decorated as if they were palaces, with original lighting, sculptures and embossed artworks.

I think taking the public transport in a city is a very good way of knowing it; watching the people, feeling the rush and hearing the sounds and conversations and smelling the atmosphere helps a lot understanding its people and culture.

In any case, if you still have not dreamt about going to Moscow but the opportunity raises in front of you, do not hesitate, you will not regret it.

Thanks for reading!

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2020-03-01T11:50:44+01:00
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