Red Journey

'Red Journey' uncovers various ways in which former Soviet countries are trying to redefine their national identity after the disintegration of the communist imperium. It focuses both on the remains of the past and on new tendencies that emerged after 1991.

Communism and its fall had a worldwide impact, but none felt the changes more than the previously Soviet states. In 2007 and 2008, photographer Nick Hannes travelled across the 15 former Soviet republics and took pictures of the different consequences of the breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991. This publication includes intense photography of a developing region full of contrasts: extreme wealth amidst poverty; and golden statues of new dictators in cities of concrete. It shows how much change has already occured and how much is still to come, with experienced photographer Nick Hannes' poignant images.