During the Soviet era, many children had similar photographs taken with the main symbol of Russia — the birch. The signs used by propaganda penetrated even into such innocent images as children’s photographs. Children’s photography became an advertising platform for the government of the RSFSR.

I give a second life to the photographs by transferring them to a more realistic background — in the landscapes of Magadan, a city in the Russian Far East. It was built during the Soviet era. The program for the development of new territories, even those whose climate was unsuitable for life, was extremely important for the government. Initially, the cities were built in inhumane conditions by victims of Stalinist repressions, then the responsibility of settling the Far North fell upon the younger generation (that’s how my grandparents found themselves there; my mother was born and lived in Magadan for 11 years). 

Sometimes I walk around Magadan using Google Street View and see how neglected the city, which cost so many lives, has become. I want to pull back the curtain and see the results of the government’s thoughtless actions, mostly driven by propaganda.

I use found archival images of Soviet children and create landscapes shotes while travelling on Google Street View.