Remains

Sasha Rudensky’s series “Remains” explores the political and social transformation of the former Soviet Union in the aftermath of the collapse of the communist regime. Rather than concentrating on the global changes in the region, her photographs focus on the more intimate details of daily life, the interiors and exteriors that form the essence of a culture. The sparsely decorated kitchens and living rooms, abandoned playgrounds and store windows, the peeling facades all exhibit a stamp of sameness, that Soviet ideology has laid upon the region eighty years ago. The personal, yet simultaneously restrained photographs transcend the specificity of locations where they were shot. Instead, they concentrate on the common experience that at one point united the Soviet republics into a nation, and now unites them in the common experience of disintegration. A feeling of nostalgia and weariness permeates the images, which points to the reservation with which former Soviet citizens look towards their unclear future.