Sometimes, to truly see the familiar, one must step away from it. After moving to another country, I began looking at Russia differently—a place I had always considered home.
During a brief trip back, the joy of returning mixed with surprise, anxiety, and sadness. What once seemed ordinary now raised questions and was occasionally perceived as absurd.
The core of this project is a random photograph taken in the center of St. Petersburg. A Yandex Taxi is driving forward, with a horse-drawn carriage behind it. Two distinct strata of time occupy the same urban space.
For me, this scene reflects a contradiction in modern Russia: amidst technological development, there is an increasingly noticeable turn toward former norms, limitations, and perceptions. It creates the feeling that external progress does not always equate to internal development.
The coexistence of the past and the present becomes a metaphor for this contradiction. The scene feels simultaneously ironic and absurd, but beneath that irony lies a sense of longing. This project is an attempt to convey my changed perception of home and to ask a question: are we truly moving forward?
