Title Nation

ClickontheGooglePreviewimageabovetoreadsomepagesofthisbook!DocumentaryphotographersJasonEskenazi(American)andValeriNistratov(Russian)'tooktotheroad'inRussiatoshoot4x5colorportraitsinvariouscitiesandacrossdifferentlevelsofRussiansociety.Itwastheirfirsttimeshootinglargeformatsotheycreatedamethodtoshooteachportraitunderthesameconditions:(lighting,distance,pose).Onlythelocationschanged:factory,street,trainstation,hospital,prison,post-office,sanatorium,etc.Theytraveledtomorethan10cities&towns,including:Novosibirsk,Kaliningrad,St.Petersburg,Sochi,Ivanovo,Kostroma,KrasnoyarskandMoscow.Awhitesheetwasusedinthebackgroundforcontinuitypurposes.Duringthesessiontheydocumentedthesubject'sname,profession,dateofbirth,andwherethephotowastaken.Usuallyonlyoneportraitwastakenforeachsubjectandtheprocesstooklessthanoneminute.ThetwoshortfilmsincludedbyAbigailSpindleshowthephotographersatthebeginningoftheprojectandnearitsend.Audiointerviewswerealsorecordedwhereandwhenpossibletoletthesubjectsspeakforthemselves.Noattemptwasmadetorepresentallethnicnationalities,inthisseries--especiallyfromtheformerSovietUnion,livingonRussianterritory--butinsteadtheyconcentratedonmoreorlesspureRussianswhomakeupthemajorityofthepopulationandarethusreferredtoscientificallyastheTitleNation.Theprojectisaboutthe15thanniversaryofthefallofcommunism,alookathowthecountryandpeoplehavechanged.Projectisaboutpeoplebutalsoaboutcollaborationbetweentwoartists.