Leica Camera Russia blog on my Found Film project (Russian)

http://blog.leica-camera.ru/2014/05/15/19242/

"Nash Chelovek v Maimi"

"Nash Chelovek v Miami" can be translated from Russian as "Our Man in Miami".
It is a heading of an article on my photography and other things just published in "Kazan" magazine. "Kazan" is a paper publication on art and culture; it is based in my native town of Kazan, Russia (Tatarstan province). Here is the link to the web version of the article:

http://kazan-journal.ru/pages/item/391-nash-chelovek-v-mayami-ob-emire-shabashvili

and here is the pdf:

http://emirco.net/photo/projects/Kazan/kazan.pdf

The photographs below are the few published in the issue

Happy reading!

Presidential election in Russia -- video feed

http://webvybory2012.ru
Video feeds from all polling places of Presidential elections in Russia.
Checked my former school in mother land, in small town named Yelabuga -- it is working! Checked small villages around the town -- working, too! Amazing.
You can use your twitter/google etc registration to connect to the system.

November in Kazan

These are from my November trip to Russia. Taken with Olympus Digital Pen camera/17mm lens in Kazan, Russia. Kazan is the town I spent the most of my life in, from 1974 to 2002. It changed dramatically since I left it but still, it is my town and I love it no matter what. I had been delighted to see that much snow, to be in cold weather after all the years in Miami damp, and to see my relatives and friends.

Moscow, at the Metro

[Order print]

Here is Moscow, from my recent trip to Russia. This had been taken deep underground somewhere in the Metrorail's shady tunnels. I think this is close to Chkalovskaya station.

Old tower (Yelabuga, Russia)

[Order print]

Yelabuga is a small town, the place where I had been born and where my parents live. It is beautiful three-hundred-plus years old Russian town; before Russian there was the Volga Bulgarian border fortification (since 11th century). This tower had been restored in 19th century by local businessman and mayor, Ivan Shishkin (father of famous Russian painter Ivan Shishkin.) I found this point of view so the tower looks remote and solitary, as it was when I was a child. It has some restaurants-shops build in vicinity and they are not visible from this point. The picture had been taken few weeks ago, it was nice and cool there (especially when compared to Miami), frost on the grass in the morining, the air was clean (the place has a lot of industrial cities around, so unfortunately the air is not always smells good). I was lucky to catch this day in the fields.

Now and Then

I am back from my Russian vacation. As planned, spent most of my time with my parents in Yelabuga. Here are 2 photographs, on is 2010, the other 1974. The town has not changed much -- it is cleaner and prettier but the area where my parents live (known as "Yersovka") still the same and I glad to find it this way. I am going slowly through hundreds of images I brought back with me, both new and old. Will post some of them as soon as I have time. All in all, glad to be back :)

Russian trip

This is about the last photograph I took when leaving Russia in 2002. Now I am flying back for the first time since then, to see my parents -- they are very old -- and my other relatives and friends. I am planning to be in Moscow (couple of days), in Kazan (may be a week or so) and in Yelabuga (at least 2 weeks). I am very exited; do not know if I'll be taking pictures there but I am bringing my gear and film just in case. So hopefully I will resume this blog in 3 weeks with the Russian theme.

Film found in Vilia Auto camera: The last days of the Soviet Union

This is not my camera/film. It was published »here by the Live Journal user »zuborobo
He found this film sitting exposed for almost 20 years inside P&S camera Vilia-Auto.
Year 1991, the last days of the Soviet Union, simple people, hard life -- vodka, crumpled spaces of the soviet era flat, heavy everyday drinking so common for the people of Russia then and today (today even more as I heard).
All too familiar.
BTW we had the same model gas water heater as the one in the picture above.
Author had the funny story invented to accompany the pictures with names etc which I have no intention to translate: the pictures tell so much more.

Afghanistan in 1969

I acquired these color slides back in 2007 and just now started scanning them. I have no information on the photographer or the previous owner of the images. Obviously this is a group of american tourists on a tour. The counties are many: Jordan, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal etc. All the slides have original notes written in the blue ball pen; I put them under the pictures along with my comments. The quality of the images is amazing. Some of the images can be blown up to see very fine detail; the image above is actually a central part of a bigger image (see below). Ok, let's start with Afghanistan.

Bio 2010

Emir Shabashvili (picture, right), also known as Amirko Shaab, 5049/1, 5049/12, Umar Shabashegeli and Pip of Holland (the last name is long forgotten and Emir ignores it if called) was born ~53 years ago in a small town named Yelabuga situated at the time in now obsolete Soviet Tataria which was in turn part of bigger country named Soviet Union or USSR, now also long gone. Emir lived in the country USSR for the most of his life, diligently learning the language and following all the traditions valued by the inhabitants of the land, like the famous custom of elbowing each other to the door when in public transportation.
After the dissolution of USSR Emir had been occupied with his private life, including (but not limited to):

- Struggle with kids;
- Education of little dogs;
- Regular disposal of garbage;
- Singing aloud and playing guitar.

~9 yeas ago Emir and his folks decided to move to the USA and did so. The reason for the move was the uncontrollable love for the famous dressing chimichurri, which had been eaten by them almost every day ever since in enormous quantities.