Around Edges
P H O T O E S S AY
Yuri Palmin
YURI PALMIN
Architectural photographer, works for leading Russian and International architects, educator at the program “Photography. Basic course” at the British Higher School of Art and Design. Laureate of “Silver Camera Special Prize” (Moscow House of Photography, 2001). Collaborates with AD Magazine, Vogue, World Architecture, RIBA Journal, Icon Magazine, Domus, Abitare, Speech, EXIT, Mark Magazine, «Project Russia». Author of illustrative material for the books on contemporary and historical Russian architecture. Has previously collaborated with A.Kirtzova, A.Brodsky, V.Efimov, S.Leontiev.
PHOTO ESSAY 427
I immediately accepted the offer to produce a series of photographs, intended to document the space between the Third Transport Ring and the Moscow Ring road. There was a sense of uncertainty and gamble in facing the scale of an area, leaving no chance for a logical and sensible approach in such a short time. Introspective analysis, the search of a clear and attractive composition, in-depth research of a subject — all these necessary and beautiful activities had to be abandoned. A senseless abyss, terrifying from the first sight, opened up to me. And this was exactly the recipe for such a task. Here are two curious facts: on the one hand, the administrative division of Moscow strictly matches the geographical toponymy of districts, on the other hand, cardinal directions play no role in the daily orientation of a Moscovite. In the dense fog, day or night, any New Yorker will tell you where the north is. Meanwhile, a Moscovite does not possess such a tool of an internal compass, or a necessity in acquiring it. The radial and the ring structure of the city and its distinct role in Moscow’s mythological geography suggests a new universal model — a unique Moscow-centric model. I have quietly accepted this model, secured my tripod and began to wait while the city itself started to spin around and present me with its views.