это лето This is Summer A journey through a Siberian summer Lydia Bigley Это Лето - This is Summer By Lydia Bigley First published 2007 Photographs and text © Lydia Bigley www.lydiabigley.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record or other- wise, without the prior permission of the photographer. Designed by Lydia Bigley Printed in London Maps: http://www.whrc.org/russia/images/russiamap.jpg http://www.search.com/reference/Category:Federal_districts_of_Russia Front Cover: Viktor Shargaev and Oksana Tabitseva, Ulan Ude Back Cover: Motorised Raft, Yarki Island, northern Lake Baikal For the young people of Siberia Introduction Freezing temperatures and Stalin’s gulags. Mention Siberia to someone and these are likely to be their first thoughts. Although contemporary Russia remains a firm part of the news agenda, the focus is always on Moscow, and the politics and cul- ture of European Russia. Very little is written or documented about contemporary Siberia and it still maintains an exotic ring to it. While the Trans-Siberian Railway has gained cult status among travellers, people tend to stick to well worn paths, usually using the train as an alternative method to travel to, what are considered the more ‘exciting’ destinations of Mongolia and China and therefore missing out on Eastern Siberia completely. Opened up by Cossack armies in the 17th century, Siberia became a place of exile for everybody from political dissenters to criminals. During the Soviet regime ‘undesirable elements’ were shipped off to gulags, labour camps set up to provide the workforce needed to harvest the sparsely populated region’s vast natural resources. The conditions in these camps were horrendous and most of the ‘work- ers’ died. However not all of Siberia’s population expansion came through exile. The building of the Trans-Siberian railway line, linking European and Asian Russia, saw over 8 million people pour into the region between 1886 and 1911. Aside from the Slavic Russians that migrated, Siberia is also home to over 30 indigenous peoples from the arctic Nenet reindeer herders in the far north to the Mongol Buryats in the south. Despite being incredibly isolated in some parts, Sibe- ria also contains Russia’s third biggest city, the thoroughly westernised Novosi- birsk, known as ‘the capital of Siberia’. 5 Siberia is regarded as ‘Russia’s great outdoors’. Vast taiga (Siberian forest), riv- ers and hills make it the perfect spot for outdoor activities such as rafting, hiking, horse riding and fishing in summer and skiing and sledging in winter. It is a popu- lar tourist destination for Russians, but still rarely visited by Westerners. Often mistaken for Siberia, the Russian Far East is even more remote, colder and home to ‘some of the most isolated towns in the world’. Bigger than Europe it stretches from the frozen tundra of the Arctic Circle in the north, to the semi-tropi- cal forests that run along the Sea of Japan in the South. The Russian Far East also contains the country’s biggest republic, ‘Sakha’ home to the Yakut people. Although Siberia and the Russian Far East do experience long freezing winters with temperatures dropping as low as -50C in some places, they also enjoy very hot (if somewhat short) summers. Contemporary Siberian Life Many of Russia’s new billionaires, such as Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, have grown rich from Siberia’s and the Russian Far East’s abundant natural resources that include gold, diamonds, coal, oil and gas. These industries have also caused mass pollution in the region. Today young Siberians listen to Western music, wear Western branded clothes, like to use the Internet and play computer games, text their friends on their mo- bile phones, and watch Russian MTV on their satellite TVs. In other words they are just like any other Western teenagers. You could easily pluck a teenager from 6 the streets of Vladivostok or Ulan-Ude, put them on the streets of London or New York and not notice any difference. Whether this homogenisation of youth culture is something to be celebrated or regretted, most young Russians seem happy with what they see as their chance to be ‘as good as’ their Western counterparts. Although most Siberian towns are gloriously free of McDonalds, and Starbucks style chains, commercialism is definitely in full swing. From the Fendi handbags on display in a boutique window and new Adidas store in Ulan Ude to branches of clothing store Mango in Vladivostok. All of the young people featured in this book were born either shortly before, or after, the fall of communism. Unencumbered by restrictive communist thinking, these young Russians have a much more positive attitude to life and are optimistic about the future. Although it sounds clichéd, it really is the young people that are driving the new Russia forward. This book is a photographic journey through a Siberian summer. Travelling mainly by train I journey through Eastern Siberian and the Russian Far East. I have docu- mented the essence of contemporary Siberian life through a series of landscapes, portraits, and moments. By concentrating on youth culture, and the glorious sum- mer weather, this book aims to dispel the myths and stereotypes that surround this misunderstood part of Russia often referred to as the ‘wild wild East’. Lydia Bigley, August 2007 7 Russian Federal Districts Journey Map 1. Central Irkutsk ИРКУТСК 2. Southern Ulan-Ude УЛАН-УДЕ 3. Northwestern Severobaikalsk СЕВЕРОБАЙКАЛЬСК 4. Far Eastern Baikalskoe БАЙКАЛЬСКОЕ 5. Siberian Nizhneangarsk НИЖНЕАНГАРСК 6. Urals Tynda ТЫНДА 7. Volga Khabarovsk ХАБАРОВСК Vladivostok ВЛАДИВОСТОК 8 9 10 11 12 Previous spread right Novosibirsk-Anapa train, Omsk station <<Российские железные дороги>> ‘Russian Railways’ is the state owned monopoly that controls the country’s 87,000km rail network. The Trans-Siberian line is one of the busiest in the world. The company has recently started to promote the route to Western tourists with an English language website featuring a slick multi-media presentation of a journey on one of the Trans-Siberian trains. It celebrates its 170th Anniversary in 2007. The ‘Trans-Siberian’ is a route not a train. Many different trains travel up and down the route and they are used on a daily basis by ordinary Russians visiting relatives, going on business trips, or on holidays. There is also no Interail style hop-on hop-off train ticket, you need to purchase a new onward ticket every time you get off the train. Left Irkutsk train station Irkutsk, often referred to as ‘the Jewel of Siberia’ is located 70km up the Angara river from Lake Baikal. Right Luba, a provodnitsa (carriage attendent) on the 340 Moscow-Chita (a five day train journey), Omsk station All Russian long distance trains have a pair of provodnitsas in every carriage, whose job it is to check passengers’ tickets and passports before boarding, keep the carriage clean and orderly, hand out bedding and check the samovar always has hot water. Despite the stereotype of the provodnitsa being a dour older woman with a ‘drag queen’ style hairdo, during the summer months young male and female Russian students, earning money for their studies, fill most of these jobs. 13 Left Vidir from Ulan Ude on the 340 Moscow-Chita train Right The Nekrasov family, Novosibirsk station Left to Right: Sergei, Mikhail, and Yekaterina from Krasnoyarsk, western Siberia. Father, Sergei, is an Electrical Engineer and earns just over $1300 a month. 16-year-old Yekaterina is keen to practice her English on foreign tourists and would like to be a teacher when she leaves school. 10-year-old Mikhail is an Abramovich inspired Chelsea Football Club supporter. 14 15 Right Fish sellers, Slyudyanka station Slyudyanka is located on the southern shore of Lake Baikal. Fishing is the major in- dustry. The most popular fish is omul, a cousin of salmon, which is considered a local delicacy. Lake Baikal’s vast distances from other cities makes exporting the fish outside the region uneconomical. Instead the locals rely on selling the fish to train passengers to make money. 16 17 18 Ulan-Ude, Eastern Siberia Right Viktor Shargaev 16, and Oksana Tabitseva 17, on the bank of the Uda River Left Izby - Traditional wooden houses Following spread right Yulia Shemina, aqua park near the Uda River 19 20 21 Right Buryatiya Teenagers on the bank of the Uda River Ulan-Ude, located 75km from the eastern shores of Lake Baikal, is the capital of the Buryatiya Republic. 30% of the population are Buryat. Descended from the Mongols, they number around 400,000, and are the biggest indigenous group in Russia. They have their own language Turkic Buryat, although it is dying out fast, nearly all of the younger Buryats only speak Russian. The main Buryat religion is Tibetan-style Bud- dhism and there are several Datsuns (Buddhist temples) located in and around Ulan Ude. Left Shooting range, near the Uda River Considering the long winters, its no wonder summer is a big deal in Russia. The locals make the most of the short hot summers with outdoor activities, such as swimming in the rivers. Outdoor terraces suddenly appear and the Kvas (a fermented bread drink) carts do a roaring trade. Oddly enough for a country that experiences such cold weath- er, ice cream is a hugely popular snack all year round. 22 23 Right Emilia Erdiniyeva, Sovetov Square, Ulan-Ude 15-year-old Emilia already speaks good English; her mother is an English teacher. She enjoys playing computer games and using the Internet, and dreams of travelling.