THE RUSSIAN ARMY (Russia 2005-2007)

The Russian army is a reflection in miniature of Russian society as a whole. Many social problems – inequality, corruption, human rights violations, economic and political uncertainties – play a role there in a magnified form. Simon Roberts documented the harsh lives of the conscripts. Their reality contrasts sharply with the public glorification of the army and its illustrious history. WAR MACHINES shows a small selection from Roberts’s exhaustive study. These photographs examine the veneration of the army, as projected on the obsolete weapons that are on display in military museums.