BLURRING THE LINES
BLURRING THE LINES

Ramil Gilvanov

Izdaleka dolgo

EDITION

2022, Shortlisted

school

Rodchenko Art School,
Moscow, Russia

Until the middle of the 16th century, the Volga flowed through the territory of four states - the Muscovy, the Nogai Horde, the Kazan, and Astrakhan khanates. As a result of the Russian troops' military campaigns, the winding water artery with a length of 3,500 kilometers completely became part of the Russian state. Despite this, for quite a long time in Russian history, the Volga remained a border and wild river, and the nation did not perceive it as “its mother.”

The common place of countless poems and songs dedicated to Mother Volga turned out to be a comparison of the river with the Russian soul - the same wide, generous, majestic. This truism is the starting point. If there is a river that embodies the national character in the public mind, we should take a closer look at the river to understand it better. With this thought, I set off on a journey along the main Russian river.

Along the way, I photographed coastal landscapes and strangers I met. However, the longer the journey lasted, the farther I moved away from home, and another common metaphor took shape in my mind more clearly- the flow of the river as the flow of life. Unhurried and at the same time swift, boundless but at the same time having both a beginning and an end.

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Ramil Gilvanov

Izdaleka dolgo

EDITION

2022, Shortlisted

school

Rodchenko Art School,
Moscow, Russia

Until the middle of the 16th century, the Volga flowed through the territory of four states - the Muscovy, the Nogai Horde, the Kazan, and Astrakhan khanates. As a result of the Russian troops' military campaigns, the winding water artery with a length of 3,500 kilometers completely became part of the Russian state. Despite this, for quite a long time in Russian history, the Volga remained a border and wild river, and the nation did not perceive it as “its mother.”

The common place of countless poems and songs dedicated to Mother Volga turned out to be a comparison of the river with the Russian soul - the same wide, generous, majestic. This truism is the starting point. If there is a river that embodies the national character in the public mind, we should take a closer look at the river to understand it better. With this thought, I set off on a journey along the main Russian river.

Along the way, I photographed coastal landscapes and strangers I met. However, the longer the journey lasted, the farther I moved away from home, and another common metaphor took shape in my mind more clearly- the flow of the river as the flow of life. Unhurried and at the same time swift, boundless but at the same time having both a beginning and an end.

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