Showcasing The Dreams and Passions Of Russians Aged 1 to 100
March 1, 2015 10:04 AM   Subscribe

Photographer Keen Heick-Abildhauge loves Russia and decided to ask various residents about their passions and ambitions. The result is Portraits And Dreams Of People From 1 To 100 Years Of Age.
posted by purplesludge (11 comments total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
 
Great pictures, great project. Thanks a lot !
posted by nicolin at 10:18 AM on March 1, 2015 [2 favorites]


There's something so open-ended about asking the subject What is your passion or dream? - you get a fascinating array of practical or professional plans, enthusiasms, and goals - and unexpected pathos.
posted by julen at 10:33 AM on March 1, 2015


This felt like distilled sadness mixed with sunlight to me.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:43 AM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


The only "disturbing" dream (as opposed to a couple that were eccentric) was the elderly man who dreams of a "strong russia"--the kind of dream which crashes those of others when someone actually makes it happen, or tries to make it happen (and please substitute the country or other abstraction of your choice).

Thinking about the photos and the people pictured, I think it's a great that the word that comes to my mind is "friendly". I think that's a great thing to capture.
posted by maxwelton at 11:28 AM on March 1, 2015


These were really charming--thank you!
posted by Monsieur Caution at 1:10 PM on March 1, 2015


Anybody know what 83-year-old Valentin's "Sanki"-painting might be? I feel bad reading "I would like to let this world know about a special form of painting" and not having any idea what that form of painting is.
posted by knuckle tattoos at 1:59 PM on March 1, 2015


Thanks for these -- wonderful faces and photos!

> Anybody know what 83-year-old Valentin's "Sanki"-painting might be?

Санки is the Russian word for sled, sledge, or sleigh, but somehow that seems unlikely here. Unless he's painting on sleighs?
posted by languagehat at 2:07 PM on March 1, 2015


I was assuming it might a painting genre of sled/winter-life type paintings, but a quick search of museums and auctionhouses with contemporary Russian art didn't elucidate. It must be a folk/outsider style that hasn't made it to the mainstream yet.
posted by julen at 2:15 PM on March 1, 2015


That's an excellent picture of a tablecloth Petr has.
posted by angerbot at 2:46 PM on March 1, 2015


Wonderful post - thank you for sharing it. I wonder why it is that b&w portraits always seem to convey so much personality. It makes no difference - just enjoyed all these folks so much.
posted by aryma at 7:39 PM on March 1, 2015


Absolutely fascinating to me that not one of the women had housewife as her profession. I know that Russia, especially when it was the Soviet Union, had an expectation that women would work--but it really hits home when you see things lined up like that.

It's also quite interesting that right about late 40s-early 50s you can see the folks with rougher professions (construction folks, drivers, waitresses) really start to look older than the folks with less physically demanding ones (journalist, accountant, etc.). Understandable but a bit startling when first noticed.
posted by librarylis at 8:06 PM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


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