Broken Empire- After the Fall of the USSR
48 result(s)
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4429
© Gerd Ludwig
4429
© Gerd Ludwig
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4452
4452
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3637
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 2001. Benetton megastore : A 21,000-square-foot merchandizing behemoth, filled with Italian flair, replaced the state-run Natasha department store.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 2001
3637
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 2001. Benetton megastore : A 21,000-square-foot merchandizing behemoth, filled with Italian flair, replaced the state-run Natasha department store.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 2001
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3648
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1992. A smoking sentry stands guard in Krasnoprenenskaya Square as his partners sell shots of homemade wine to thirsty Muscovites. With the end of the Soviet era, these moonshiners and others from the Caucasus - four days away by car - were free to bring their business to the Russian capital.
3648
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1992. A smoking sentry stands guard in Krasnoprenenskaya Square as his partners sell shots of homemade wine to thirsty Muscovites. With the end of the Soviet era, these moonshiners and others from the Caucasus - four days away by car - were free to bring their business to the Russian capital.
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3613
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1996. Forced in former times to hide their sexual preferences, gay men can now meet openly at clubs like Moscow's Chance.
© Gerd Ludwig
3613
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1996. Forced in former times to hide their sexual preferences, gay men can now meet openly at clubs like Moscow's Chance.
© Gerd Ludwig
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3622
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Vladivostok, Russia 1997. Russians flock to Vladivostok in summer months to vacation on the shores of the Sea of Japan.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1996
3622
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Vladivostok, Russia 1997. Russians flock to Vladivostok in summer months to vacation on the shores of the Sea of Japan.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1996
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3625
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Donetsk, Ukraine 1992. After a day in the pits, a coal miner scrubs down. Though relatively well paid, miners face equipment breakdowns and gas explosions as they extract Ukraine's high-grade coal. Every million tons costs the life of one miner, according to estimates - a figure ten times higher than comparable U.S. fatality rates.
3625
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Donetsk, Ukraine 1992. After a day in the pits, a coal miner scrubs down. Though relatively well paid, miners face equipment breakdowns and gas explosions as they extract Ukraine's high-grade coal. Every million tons costs the life of one miner, according to estimates - a figure ten times higher than comparable U.S. fatality rates.
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3626
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Almaty, Kazakhstan 1992. At the central market on a Sunday morning vendors sell everything from furniture and shoes to livestock and produce.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1992
3626
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Almaty, Kazakhstan 1992. At the central market on a Sunday morning vendors sell everything from furniture and shoes to livestock and produce.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1992
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3627
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Semey, Kazakhstan 1992. Homey decor does little to ease young fears at a medical diagnostic center. Area residents suffer nighmarishly high rates of cancer and other diseases linked to fallout from nuclear tests.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1992
3627
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Semey, Kazakhstan 1992. Homey decor does little to ease young fears at a medical diagnostic center. Area residents suffer nighmarishly high rates of cancer and other diseases linked to fallout from nuclear tests.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1992
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3635
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1992. Blindfolded by a child, a statue of Stalin, most feared ruler of the communist era, sits amid other toppled effigies of party leaders now jumbled together in a Moscow park. To ardent believers in the glories of communism, such disrespect is heresy. To hopeful new democrats, the jigsaw jumble signifies freedom.
Copyright 2009 © Gerd Ludwig
3635
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1992. Blindfolded by a child, a statue of Stalin, most feared ruler of the communist era, sits amid other toppled effigies of party leaders now jumbled together in a Moscow park. To ardent believers in the glories of communism, such disrespect is heresy. To hopeful new democrats, the jigsaw jumble signifies freedom.
Copyright 2009 © Gerd Ludwig
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3636
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1991. Like this Muscovite, many of Russia's elderly live in poorly maintained, communal flats, where they are forced to share kitchens and bathrooms.
Copyright 2009 © Gerd Ludwig
3636
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1991. Like this Muscovite, many of Russia's elderly live in poorly maintained, communal flats, where they are forced to share kitchens and bathrooms.
Copyright 2009 © Gerd Ludwig
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3628
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1992. In Lubyanskaya Square, a babushka finds her own niche in the new economy. Peddling goods on the street became legal, briefly, in 1992. But the impromptu tolkuchi, or "push markets", created so much street congestion that they were soon restricted.
3628
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1992. In Lubyanskaya Square, a babushka finds her own niche in the new economy. Peddling goods on the street became legal, briefly, in 1992. But the impromptu tolkuchi, or "push markets", created so much street congestion that they were soon restricted.
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3629
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1992. Jobless and homeless : in the early 1990s, the homeless became a feature of Moscow street life. This man was evicted from his apartment by his own son, who decided he needed the space for his live-in girlfriend.
Copyright 2009 © Gerd Ludwig
3629
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1992. Jobless and homeless : in the early 1990s, the homeless became a feature of Moscow street life. This man was evicted from his apartment by his own son, who decided he needed the space for his live-in girlfriend.
Copyright 2009 © Gerd Ludwig
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3630
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Kiev, Ukraine 1992. Even Ukraine's morgues reflect the state of the country's economy - though this one was cleaned up before the photographer arrived. Bodies often go unclaimed because relatives can't afford a funeral.
3630
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Kiev, Ukraine 1992. Even Ukraine's morgues reflect the state of the country's economy - though this one was cleaned up before the photographer arrived. Bodies often go unclaimed because relatives can't afford a funeral.
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3631
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Novokuznetsk, Russia 1992. Smoke from the KMK steel plant belches carbon monoxide above this Siberian city. By the early 1990's, pollution had impacted every major river in Russia, had left one quarter of the drinking water unsafe, and had cursed 35 million Russians with unhealthy air.
3631
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Novokuznetsk, Russia 1992. Smoke from the KMK steel plant belches carbon monoxide above this Siberian city. By the early 1990's, pollution had impacted every major river in Russia, had left one quarter of the drinking water unsafe, and had cursed 35 million Russians with unhealthy air.
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3632
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Chelyabinsk, Russia 1983. New housing rising in the shadow of highly polluting metallurgical and energy plants threatens to create additional problems for this Ural city, also afflicted by the aftermath of nearby nuclear accidents.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1993
3632
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Chelyabinsk, Russia 1983. New housing rising in the shadow of highly polluting metallurgical and energy plants threatens to create additional problems for this Ural city, also afflicted by the aftermath of nearby nuclear accidents.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1993
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3633
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Magnitogorsk, Russia 1993. On winter weekends, men drill fishing holes in the thick ice of the Ural River to try their luck. Knowing that the river is badly polluted by waste from the Lenin Steel Works looming behind them, they often sell their catch to markets rather than consume it themselves.
3633
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Magnitogorsk, Russia 1993. On winter weekends, men drill fishing holes in the thick ice of the Ural River to try their luck. Knowing that the river is badly polluted by waste from the Lenin Steel Works looming behind them, they often sell their catch to markets rather than consume it themselves.
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3638
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Aral sea, Kazakhstan 1993. As if walking on water, camels cross the dry bed of the Aral Sea. Irrigation tapping into the lake's feeder rivers has shrunk its size by half and created this graveyard of rusting shipwrecks, where once a beautiful bay glistened.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1993
3638
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Aral sea, Kazakhstan 1993. As if walking on water, camels cross the dry bed of the Aral Sea. Irrigation tapping into the lake's feeder rivers has shrunk its size by half and created this graveyard of rusting shipwrecks, where once a beautiful bay glistened.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1993
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3639
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1996. With prices rising and wages often delayed by months, some Russians have been forced to scavenge local trash bins to survive.
3639
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1996. With prices rising and wages often delayed by months, some Russians have been forced to scavenge local trash bins to survive.
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3634
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1993. Unsolved tragedy : these children, all from only two neighborhoods in Moscow, were born with missing forearms. Although no certain links can be drawn between their defects and Moscow's bewildering mix of pollutants, the incidence of congenital deformities is higher here than in the rest of Russia.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1993
3634
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1993. Unsolved tragedy : these children, all from only two neighborhoods in Moscow, were born with missing forearms. Although no certain links can be drawn between their defects and Moscow's bewildering mix of pollutants, the incidence of congenital deformities is higher here than in the rest of Russia.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1993
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3640
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Kiev, Ukraine 1993. Baffling cases of baldness in children have doctors worried in the Ukraine, where a dramatic increase in thyroid cancer among the young has been attributed to radiation from the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
3640
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Kiev, Ukraine 1993. Baffling cases of baldness in children have doctors worried in the Ukraine, where a dramatic increase in thyroid cancer among the young has been attributed to radiation from the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
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3641
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Semey, Kazakhstan 1993. Nuclear fallout from the Semey test site has resulted in a plague of birth defects among the children of northeastern Kazakhstan. Now 13, this boy, who actually lives on the test site, was born blind and disfigured.
3641
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Semey, Kazakhstan 1993. Nuclear fallout from the Semey test site has resulted in a plague of birth defects among the children of northeastern Kazakhstan. Now 13, this boy, who actually lives on the test site, was born blind and disfigured.
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3642
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Kiev, Ukraine 1993. Chornobyl invalids line up to register in Kiev. Their "degree of victimhood" - one through four - will determine the compensation awarded them.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1993
3642
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Kiev, Ukraine 1993. Chornobyl invalids line up to register in Kiev. Their "degree of victimhood" - one through four - will determine the compensation awarded them.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1993
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3643
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Novocherkassk, Russia 1997. Following a proud tradition, a young soldier-to-be is fitted for his uniform at the Royal Cossack Cadet Academy. Established by Tsar Alexander III in 1883, closed by Stalin in 1933, the academy reopened its doors in 1991.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1997
3643
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Novocherkassk, Russia 1997. Following a proud tradition, a young soldier-to-be is fitted for his uniform at the Royal Cossack Cadet Academy. Established by Tsar Alexander III in 1883, closed by Stalin in 1933, the academy reopened its doors in 1991.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1997
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3644
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Petrovskiy Zavod, Russia 1997. Taking advantage of a stop on the long-distance rail line, babushkas offer passengers their home-cooked food and garden produce, which they cart to the station aboard baby carriages.
3644
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Petrovskiy Zavod, Russia 1997. Taking advantage of a stop on the long-distance rail line, babushkas offer passengers their home-cooked food and garden produce, which they cart to the station aboard baby carriages.
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3649
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Krasnoyarsk, Russia 1997. In south-central Siberia, biting cold frosts the windows of an electrishka, a local electric train, where a passenger sports the classic Russian defense against winter - a fur shapka.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1997
3649
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Krasnoyarsk, Russia 1997. In south-central Siberia, biting cold frosts the windows of an electrishka, a local electric train, where a passenger sports the classic Russian defense against winter - a fur shapka.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1997
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3650
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow, 1992. Stealing a kiss good-bye in the corridor of a train making its way through Moscow.
Copyright 2009 © Gerd Ludwig
3650
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow, 1992. Stealing a kiss good-bye in the corridor of a train making its way through Moscow.
Copyright 2009 © Gerd Ludwig
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3645
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Divnomorskoye, Russia 1997. At first light, young Cossack cadets are up. Though millions of Cossacks were killed in Stalin’s purges, they have made a mighty come-back, with thousands of new recruits joining their ranks.
© Gerd Ludwig
3645
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Divnomorskoye, Russia 1997. At first light, young Cossack cadets are up. Though millions of Cossacks were killed in Stalin’s purges, they have made a mighty come-back, with thousands of new recruits joining their ranks.
© Gerd Ludwig
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3646
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
© Gerd Ludwig 2011 All Rights Reserved
3646
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
© Gerd Ludwig 2011 All Rights Reserved
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3647
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Novocherkassk, Russia 1992. Captivated by Cossack splendor, a young girl watches soldiers parade past. Trained from childhood to stand on the sidelines, Cossack women are relegated to the roles of cook, mother, housekeeper, and wife.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1997
3647
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Novocherkassk, Russia 1992. Captivated by Cossack splendor, a young girl watches soldiers parade past. Trained from childhood to stand on the sidelines, Cossack women are relegated to the roles of cook, mother, housekeeper, and wife.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1997
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3651
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Don River, Russia 1997. After a sunset bath, horse and rider rear from the waters of the fabled Don.
3651
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Don River, Russia 1997. After a sunset bath, horse and rider rear from the waters of the fabled Don.
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3652
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Starocherkassk, Russia 1997. After some lighthearted folk dancing, picnickers refuel with a robust meal - and lots of vodka.
3652
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Starocherkassk, Russia 1997. After some lighthearted folk dancing, picnickers refuel with a robust meal - and lots of vodka.
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3653
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
St.Petersburg, Russia 1992. Where communist héroes once hovered, capitalist advertising now proclaims itself. On this billboard a candy called Rossya Russia tempts the passing world with its «generous soul»
3653
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
St.Petersburg, Russia 1992. Where communist héroes once hovered, capitalist advertising now proclaims itself. On this billboard a candy called Rossya Russia tempts the passing world with its «generous soul»
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3614
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1996. Reviving the European salon tradition, poets gather to share their works. Freely versing, one writer recites a poem that cost him his teaching job in 1986. Now he shares his poetry with millions via newspaper, radio, and television.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1996
3614
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1996. Reviving the European salon tradition, poets gather to share their works. Freely versing, one writer recites a poem that cost him his teaching job in 1986. Now he shares his poetry with millions via newspaper, radio, and television.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1996
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3615
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1996. A sun worshiper ignores the last vestiges of winter and embraces the return of sunshine. To stay in shape, many Russians swim in the icy waters of winter, a long-cherished method for rejuvenating the body.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1996
3615
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1996. A sun worshiper ignores the last vestiges of winter and embraces the return of sunshine. To stay in shape, many Russians swim in the icy waters of winter, a long-cherished method for rejuvenating the body.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 1996
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3654
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 2000. Christmas makes a comeback : repressed under the atheistic communists, holiday festivities now blanket Moscow with seasonal cheer. At the gates to Red Square, vendors costumed as Father Frost, the Russian version of Santa, hawk Cokes to New Year's Eve revelers.
3654
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 2000. Christmas makes a comeback : repressed under the atheistic communists, holiday festivities now blanket Moscow with seasonal cheer. At the gates to Red Square, vendors costumed as Father Frost, the Russian version of Santa, hawk Cokes to New Year's Eve revelers.
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3609
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Sochi, Russia 2001. New Russians - probably part of the affluent mafia crowd - honor an old tradition : gathering to wine and dine at the grave of a deceased relative on Parent's Day, the second Tuesday after Easter.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 2001
3609
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Sochi, Russia 2001. New Russians - probably part of the affluent mafia crowd - honor an old tradition : gathering to wine and dine at the grave of a deceased relative on Parent's Day, the second Tuesday after Easter.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 2001
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3610
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Yakutsk, Russia 2001. Accustomed to violent winters, women in the Sakha Republic keep warm in floor-length furs. Thanks to its rich natural resources, Russia's remote northern province harbors islands of prosperity - but not warmth. In January, the daily high in the capital, Yakutsk, averages minus 43°F.
© Gerd Ludwig
3610
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Yakutsk, Russia 2001. Accustomed to violent winters, women in the Sakha Republic keep warm in floor-length furs. Thanks to its rich natural resources, Russia's remote northern province harbors islands of prosperity - but not warmth. In January, the daily high in the capital, Yakutsk, averages minus 43°F.
© Gerd Ludwig
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3611
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
St. Petersburg, Russia 2001. At the Russian Academy of Science, Vladimir Putin stands surrounded by scientists and bodyguards. A puzzle to political pundits, Putin was raised Orthodox, but rose through the ranks of the KGB Joining with reformers, he was handpicked by Yeltsin and elected to Russia's highest office in 1999.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 2001
3611
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
St. Petersburg, Russia 2001. At the Russian Academy of Science, Vladimir Putin stands surrounded by scientists and bodyguards. A puzzle to political pundits, Putin was raised Orthodox, but rose through the ranks of the KGB Joining with reformers, he was handpicked by Yeltsin and elected to Russia's highest office in 1999.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 2001
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3612
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Akademgorodok, Russia 2001. Every workday begins with a roundtable discussion for scientists with the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Akademgorodok "Academy Town". This scientific center, built in Siberia in the 1950's, continues to be a research hub in the New Russia.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 2001
3612
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Akademgorodok, Russia 2001. Every workday begins with a roundtable discussion for scientists with the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Akademgorodok "Academy Town". This scientific center, built in Siberia in the 1950's, continues to be a research hub in the New Russia.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 2001
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3616
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Nishnevartovsk, Russia 2001. In the permafrosted swamps of western Siberia, the Samotlor oil field, one of the world's richest, guards its wealth with subzero, subhuman conditions.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 2001
3616
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Nishnevartovsk, Russia 2001. In the permafrosted swamps of western Siberia, the Samotlor oil field, one of the world's richest, guards its wealth with subzero, subhuman conditions.
Copyright © Gerd Ludwig 2001
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3623
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 2001. Desinfection Center #2 in Lianozovo, a Moscow suburb, treats increasing numbers of underprivileged sufferers of infectious diseases. Many come voluntarily, but militia also rounds up the homeless and delivers them to such centers.
3623
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 2001. Desinfection Center #2 in Lianozovo, a Moscow suburb, treats increasing numbers of underprivileged sufferers of infectious diseases. Many come voluntarily, but militia also rounds up the homeless and delivers them to such centers.
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3624
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
St. Petersburg, Russia 2001. Arguably the most famous street in Russia, Nevsky Prospect was cut through forest land in the early 1700s. Now, in the early 2000s, it has become a forest of billboards - though plans are under way to limit their numbers.
3624
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
St. Petersburg, Russia 2001. Arguably the most famous street in Russia, Nevsky Prospect was cut through forest land in the early 1700s. Now, in the early 2000s, it has become a forest of billboards - though plans are under way to limit their numbers.
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3617
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 2000. Cell phone in hand, a young beauty contemplates the strollers that now crowd Manezhnaya Square. Until a recent restoration, there was very little foot traffic.
3617
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 2000. Cell phone in hand, a young beauty contemplates the strollers that now crowd Manezhnaya Square. Until a recent restoration, there was very little foot traffic.
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3618
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1992. Male dancers entertain an appreciative female audience at the Little Red Riding Hood, one of Moscow's new breed of all-night clubs.
© Gerd Ludwig
3618
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Moscow 1992. Male dancers entertain an appreciative female audience at the Little Red Riding Hood, one of Moscow's new breed of all-night clubs.
© Gerd Ludwig
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3619
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Novosibirsk, Russia 2001. Siberian hipness : at the New York Times, a club founded by an American entrepreneur, locals and foreigners mix to the beat of blues, jazz and rock music.
© Gerd Ludwig
3619
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Novosibirsk, Russia 2001. Siberian hipness : at the New York Times, a club founded by an American entrepreneur, locals and foreigners mix to the beat of blues, jazz and rock music.
© Gerd Ludwig
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3620
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Novosibirsk, Russia 1996. View on the New Russia : A car's windshield, held in place by coins, frames a woman dressed to kill and a roadside sign reading. "The new generation chooses freedom".
3620
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Novosibirsk, Russia 1996. View on the New Russia : A car's windshield, held in place by coins, frames a woman dressed to kill and a roadside sign reading. "The new generation chooses freedom".
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3621
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Siberia, Russia 1997. Endless trees and the frozen silence of the Russian taiga slide past the frosted window of the Trans-Siberian Railroad as it sweeps east of Lake Baikal.
3621
Broken Empire – After the Fall of the USSR
Siberia, Russia 1997. Endless trees and the frozen silence of the Russian taiga slide past the frosted window of the Trans-Siberian Railroad as it sweeps east of Lake Baikal.