(from “Russia”)
© Pavel Romaniko

(from “Russia”)
© Pavel Romaniko

Pavel Romaniko grew up in Russia in a small town named Pereslavl, a couple hour drive from Moscow. Pavel has spent the last nine years of his live in the United States where he came for school in 1997 at just 17 years-old. Going back to visit his family got him curious about photography and when a friend suggested he bring a camera on his trips, he embraced the idea. What began with a 35mm camera has now moved to large format.

Pavel’s photographs from Russia earned him a seat amongst the Spring 2007 Hey, Hot Shot! Winners. With his statement, he says about the work:

Present social landscape is a primarily subject matter in most of my work on a broader scale. In my work from Russia I concentrate on what seemed so banal and uninteresting to me as I was growing up and ordinary to many now. My work speaks primarily of memory. With this work I attempt to reconstruct what I see as my past and what has become the present day. At the same time I wish to comment on a broader social level of a country that is trying to reconcile with its own past. The work speaks a lot of recollection of memory, the autobiographical and, at the same time, the historical. These images are about a changing culture and what remains of it. They speak of emerging wealth and competing poverty, decay of culture and emergence of a new social landscape.

Visit Pavel’s website to see this and a few other projects.