Infrastructures - Power, Property, and Territory in the Post-Soviet Space
‘Infrastructures’ is a photo project about hidden, little-known or completely unseen institutions, practices and processes that by and large determine the inner workings of power, property, and territory in the former Soviet Union. In their series, combining documentary and staged photography, and text, Russian photographers Sergey Novikov and Max Sher visualize the ideas, techniques, tactics, and narratives the ruling powers use to exercise their power.
‘Infrastructures’ consists of fifty cases – five of which are presented here – that, at a first glance, don’t seem to be connected with each other. Using them, Novikov and Sher delve into the essence of the political economy, political culture, and history of the post-Soviet space in order to question the dominating perceptions about it. Each case contains photographs and an essay. The project takes a holistic approach to show how separate and seemingly very different phenomena are connected with each other and with the system as a whole, which is impossible to conceptualize by focusing on the individual parts.
