When looking back on my film journals, I noticed that what often interested me most about a film was the interior setting. I found that so much meaning and symbolism can be packed into four walls. The spaces in each of the films were strikingly different, as the films themselves also were. Each interior - whether a country home, old apartment, the Hermitage or a shack in Kazakhstan - told a story about the characters and about Russia as a whole. This led me to thinking about the notion of nationality and how it is manifested materially and spatially. I also began thinking about the relationship between Russians and Canadians as it seems like my fellow Canadians feel some sort of affinity for the Russians outside the academic world. In order to explore these questions, I decided to make a photo essay documenting the interior spaces of two of my friends, both connected in different ways to Russia. My first subject is Whitney Wiebe, a History and Russian Studies undergrad at the University of Victoria. The other subject is her boyfriend, Vitaly Kazakov, who is originally from Russia and has been living in Canada for several years. Vitaly is finishing his undergraduate degree in Business and Russian Studies at the University of Victoria as well. The interiors of their homes express who they are through their aesthetic and material choices. They also show their connection to Russia through similar items - photographs, books, icons, etc. It it was interesting to me to see how these connections are displayed and how we "brand" ourselves through our homes. {Please click
here and then click on the "slideshow" option to view the photo essay}. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, hope you have enjoyed it!
When looking back on my film journals, I noticed that what often interested me most about a film was the interior setting. I found that so much meaning and symbolism can be packed into four walls. The spaces in each of the films were strikingly different, as the films themselves also were. Each interior - whether a country home, old apartment, the Hermitage or a shack in Kazakhstan - told a story about the characters and about Russia as a whole. This led me to thinking about the notion of nationality and how it is manifested materially and spatially. I also began thinking about the relationship between Russians and Canadians as it seems like my fellow Canadians feel some sort of affinity for the Russians outside the academic world. In order to explore these questions, I decided to make a photo essay documenting the interior spaces of two of my friends, both connected in different ways to Russia. My first subject is Whitney Wiebe, a History and Russian Studies undergrad at the University of Victoria. The other subject is her boyfriend, Vitaly Kazakov, who is originally from Russia and has been living in Canada for several years. Vitaly is finishing his undergraduate degree in Business and Russian Studies at the University of Victoria as well. The interiors of their homes express who they are through their aesthetic and material choices. They also show their connection to Russia through similar items - photographs, books, icons, etc. It it was interesting to me to see how these connections are displayed and how we "brand" ourselves through our homes. {Please click here and then click on the "slideshow" option to view the photo essay}. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, hope you have enjoyed it!
