vestiges of a Soviet past
When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991 the shock waves had a huge and lasting impact on successor countries, including Ukraine where I have traveled extensively.
The economies of most of these new countries went into free fall. Severe disruption followed as trade and commercial links between the entities of the Former Soviet Union unraveled and a market economy vied with the remnants of the defunct centrally planned system.
After almost 30 years since these Soviet Republics became independent countries, vestiges of the old communist world are still very much in evidence, particularly outside the capital cities.
This series of images looks at aspects of this ongoing post-Soviet transition from the vantage point of provincial towns like Kherson in southern Ukraine.
They were shot during the summer of 2019 and feature mostly quiet images taken in Soviet era apartment complexes and on street corners. They mostly do not feature people but allude to their presence. This is an ongoing project that I intend to continue to shoot in the summer of 2020.
