Russia’s city of shadows Alexey Titarenko’s photos use long exposure to capture the ‘infernal’ atmosphere of 1990s St. Petersburg

This fall, an exhibition by Soviet-American photographer Alexey Titarenko opened in the Italian city of Monopoli as part of the PhEST photography and art festival. Around the same time, the U.S. publisher Nailya Alexander Gallery released the second edition of his book, which brings together his projects “City of Shadows,” “The Black and White Magic of St. Petersburg,” and “Frozen Time.”

Taken between 1992 and 2000, these photos depict a city steeped in grayness, scarcity, and poverty. The decade was a time when Russia’s second city had been transformed into an almost infernal place where, as Titarenko put it, “people begin to resemble shadows.” To capture the atmosphere of the era, the artist employs ultra-long exposure — a technique rarely used in street photography. Meduza shares some of his photos along with his own commentary from the exhibition’s opening.

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