Unseen Presence: Homeland Hues

Unseen Presence: Homeland Hues chronicles the challenges faced by the Russian expatriate community in Boston in the aftermath of Russia's military intervention in Ukraine.

When Russia announced the beginning of its “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine—a euphemism the government uses for war—any opposition to the aggression became a punishable offense. Most of my friends and I felt we had no choice but to leave the country as a sign of protest. Our communities were uprooted and scattered across different continents, countries, and time zones. Many of us have lost our jobs, and our lives revolve around problems with visas, passports, work permits, and financial instability. We live in a perpetual state of insecurity, but are unwilling to return home out of fear of being drafted into the army, or jailed for our artwork or comments on social media.

Feeling alienated under these precarious living conditions, I am rebuilding my community by photographing members of the current Russian diaspora in Boston. I find them through Telegram chats and occasional events. Since a lot of the people I photograph have legal issues being present in the US, I ask them to collaborate on how much they are willing to reveal their identity. I photograph them in neutral territory—streets, parking lots, or studios—in places that are anonymous and empty. The events of last year thrust us into a nomadic lifestyle. Without a sense of how long we can stay, most of us do not have much with us. We try to blend in by mimicking natives, yet everyone can identify our accent. My work is a visual study of the Russian community—present and opaque at the same time.