RUSSIA

In 2019, I had the pleasure of traveling to St Petersburg with the artist Misha Goro and his wife, Inna Dimitrova. Misha grew up there and Inna spent 20 years there, so they were more than familiar with the city, and thus, were marvelous tour guides. St Petersburg has clearly recognized the value of tourist dollars, and has cleaned up its act considerably, layering a veneer of glamour across the main parts of the city. It was as magical as I’d expected it to be, but the best images came from wandering in parts of the city that were not “spiffed up” for the tourists. I will always be incredibly thankful to Misha and Inna for their patience with me as I stopped every few minutes to capture something – it’s not easy for non-photographers to travel with photographers. In addition to making some fascinating work, I learned a great deal about the days of the Soviet Union.