Free of the Darkness – 136 Photographs from Russia
In this book are 136 photographs from Russia, displaying subjective intersections of time and space in an environment as fascinating and enchanting as it can be depressing and dangerous. Never a dull moment for those who dare roam the Russian spaces with an open mind and camera in hand… Street scenes, architecture, people, nature… all the facets of daily life flash by as we travel through a country as vast as it is mysterious; as emotionally honest and glamorous as it seems eternally hesitant to shake off the yoke of totalitarianism. Whether you look at Russia as a haunting spectre unable to leave its violent past behind or as a nation of immense creative potential, Carl Abrahamsson’s photographs provide you with personal, private and revealing glimpses of Russian life.
“What we are attracted to and what we fear (sometimes they are one and the same), we must absolutely explore. When I was offered a Russian photo exhibition and a mini-tour for my musical project Cotton Ferox in 2007, I was overjoyed. For almost two weeks, I travelled to Moscow, St Petersburg and Yaroslavl. The work presented did not feel half as interesting to me as what I experienced and documented myself there and then. Russia is an insanely fascinating and brutally emotional culture, proudly flaunting both victories and defeats as if they were the same – essentially, a photographer’s and observer’s paradise.” – Carl Abrahamsson, from the introduction
Trapart Books, 2022. 150 pages in full colour, 7 x 10″. Available as paperback, hardback, and e-book.