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The truth about Russia's Winter Olympics city – it's subtropical! The truth about Russia's Winter Olympics city – it's subtropical!
(about 4 hours later)
"I have been working in Russia since 2003 and I love the country, the culture and many of the people," says photojournalist Rob Honstra, who won last year's World Press photo prize for The Sochi Project. For the last five years, Honstra and writer/film-maker Arnold van Bruggen have been looking at the complex Sochi region, where the 2014 Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place. "I have been working in Russia since 2003 and I love the country, the culture and many of the people," says photojournalist Rob Hornstra, who won last year's World Press photo prize for The Sochi Project. For the last five years, Hornstra and writer/film-maker Arnold van Bruggen have been looking at the complex Sochi region, where the 2014 Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place.
Last month, the Moscow News reported that Hostra was denied a Russian visa for a proposed trip to Moscow. "I have friends there who I can't visit any longer," he says. "I really regret the decision of the Russian government and I don't understand it. I mean, how bad are we? We are part of our stories, and this is completely in line with the stories we tell."Last month, the Moscow News reported that Hostra was denied a Russian visa for a proposed trip to Moscow. "I have friends there who I can't visit any longer," he says. "I really regret the decision of the Russian government and I don't understand it. I mean, how bad are we? We are part of our stories, and this is completely in line with the stories we tell."
Sochi is near Abkhazia, where civil war broke out in 1992 after it declared independence from Georgia. To the east, across the Caucasus Mountains, are other poor and troubled republics such as North Ossetia and Chechnya. "Never before have the Olympic Games been held in a region that contrasts more strongly with the glamour of the Games than Sochi," Van Bruggen writes in his introduction to the project.Sochi is near Abkhazia, where civil war broke out in 1992 after it declared independence from Georgia. To the east, across the Caucasus Mountains, are other poor and troubled republics such as North Ossetia and Chechnya. "Never before have the Olympic Games been held in a region that contrasts more strongly with the glamour of the Games than Sochi," Van Bruggen writes in his introduction to the project.
If all goes according to plan, however, Sochi will be transformed into a winter wonderland in time for the Olympics. This may take some doing for, as Van Bruggen points out, Sochi is "a small piece of subtropical Russia where no snow falls in the winter". Or, as writers Boris Nemstov and Leonid Martynyuk put it in the tantalisingly titled Winter Olympics in the Subtropics: An Expert Report: "Russia is a winterly country. On the map, it is hard to find a spot where snow would never fall, and where winter sports would not be popular. Yet Putin has found such a spot and decided to hold the winter Olympics there: in the city of Sochi."If all goes according to plan, however, Sochi will be transformed into a winter wonderland in time for the Olympics. This may take some doing for, as Van Bruggen points out, Sochi is "a small piece of subtropical Russia where no snow falls in the winter". Or, as writers Boris Nemstov and Leonid Martynyuk put it in the tantalisingly titled Winter Olympics in the Subtropics: An Expert Report: "Russia is a winterly country. On the map, it is hard to find a spot where snow would never fall, and where winter sports would not be popular. Yet Putin has found such a spot and decided to hold the winter Olympics there: in the city of Sochi."
The report makes for salutary reading, from its opening chapter, The Olympics of Lawlessness and Corruption, to one titled The Most Expensive Project of the Most Expensive Olympics. Under the heading Risks of the Olympics, you find no fewer than seven subheadings, including Climate, Terrorist and, alarmingly, "Hospitality" (the inverted commas are all-important). It is this hinterland between the real and the absurd, vaulting nationalist ambition and grim reality that Honstra and Van Bruggen negotiate in The Sochi Project. The report makes for salutary reading, from its opening chapter, The Olympics of Lawlessness and Corruption, to one titled The Most Expensive Project of the Most Expensive Olympics. Under the heading Risks of the Olympics, you find no fewer than seven subheadings, including Climate, Terrorist and, alarmingly, "Hospitality" (the inverted commas are all-important). It is this hinterland between the real and the absurd, vaulting nationalist ambition and grim reality that Hornstra and Van Bruggen negotiate in The Sochi Project.
Honstra describes their process as slow journalism, and the material they've amassed has involved deep research and countless interviews. "For me, slow journalism is really the same as documentary. The starting point is always [to ask] why things are happening rather than what is happening. It is very important to have a substantial amount of time to investigate somewhere, then have more time to think about experiences when we come back." Hornstra describes their process as slow journalism, and the material they've amassed has involved deep research and countless interviews. "For me, slow journalism is really the same as documentary. The starting point is always [to ask] why things are happening rather than what is happening. It is very important to have a substantial amount of time to investigate somewhere, then have more time to think about experiences when we come back."
These stories have appeared in newspapers, photobooks and online over the past five years. Now, Aperture has published a hefty book with the provocative subtitle, An Atlas of War and Tourism in the Caucasus. It brilliantly merges journalism and storytelling with found photographs and formal portraits to create a profile of a potentially dangerous region.These stories have appeared in newspapers, photobooks and online over the past five years. Now, Aperture has published a hefty book with the provocative subtitle, An Atlas of War and Tourism in the Caucasus. It brilliantly merges journalism and storytelling with found photographs and formal portraits to create a profile of a potentially dangerous region.
Honstra and Van Bruggen have also shown their findings in various photobooks along the way. Some, like The Sochi Singers, are lighthearted glimpses of a place where old traditions – folk songs – endure, even if they are now mostly belted out by amateurs in piano bars. Honstra cites another of their recently published photobooks, The Secret History of Khaiva Gaisanova, as a perfect example of their process. To illustrate the history of "disappearances" in the region, it uses the story of one woman from the village of Chermen, in the North Caucasus, whose husband vanished without a trace in 2007. Hornstra and Van Bruggen have also shown their findings in various photobooks along the way. Some, like The Sochi Singers, are lighthearted glimpses of a place where old traditions – folk songs – endure, even if they are now mostly belted out by amateurs in piano bars. Hornstra cites another of their recently published photobooks, The Secret History of Khaiva Gaisanova, as a perfect example of their process. To illustrate the history of "disappearances" in the region, it uses the story of one woman from the village of Chermen, in the North Caucasus, whose husband vanished without a trace in 2007.
"We met Khaiva on the side of the road and started talking. It was only 10 months later that we came up with the idea to build the book around her, and a year later we went back to ask if she wanted to be the main character. Some people might say we are lazy or slow, but I believe we needed that time to digest things and finally see that this coincidental meeting with Khaiva was the perfect example of our working in the North Caucasus. We simply need a lot of time to truly understand things.""We met Khaiva on the side of the road and started talking. It was only 10 months later that we came up with the idea to build the book around her, and a year later we went back to ask if she wanted to be the main character. Some people might say we are lazy or slow, but I believe we needed that time to digest things and finally see that this coincidental meeting with Khaiva was the perfect example of our working in the North Caucasus. We simply need a lot of time to truly understand things."
Next year, The Sochi Project will travel as a touring exhibition through Europe, America and Canada. A show planned for the Winzavod Centre for Contemporary Art, in Moscow, this month has just been pulled. "I am sure the gallery started worrying the moment my visa was refused," says Honstra. "They didn't cancel the exhibition, but they threw up a sustained series of bureaucratic obstacles in the two weeks before the opening. We had been working together for 18 months. I think [people at] Winzavod panicked after they heard about the refusal." Next year, The Sochi Project will travel as a touring exhibition through Europe, America and Canada. A show planned for the Winzavod Centre for Contemporary Art, in Moscow, this month has just been pulled. "I am sure the gallery started worrying the moment my visa was refused," says Hornstra. "They didn't cancel the exhibition, but they threw up a sustained series of bureaucratic obstacles in the two weeks before the opening. We had been working together for 18 months. I think [people at] Winzavod panicked after they heard about the refusal."
Honstra and Van Bruggen have also created a more democratic exhibition, made entirely of newsprint, that can be shown on the walls of small galleries with no budget for framed prints or video installations. Hornstra and Van Bruggen have also created a more democratic exhibition, made entirely of newsprint, that can be shown on the walls of small galleries with no budget for framed prints or video installations.
For me, the work really comes alive online, not least because it provides a vivid example of how photojournalism can work brilliantly in the digital age. Honstra and Van Bruggen are storytellers, and the many forms in which their stories appear reflect the fractured time we live in, as does the sprawling nature of their multimedia project. Whichever way you look at it, The Sochi Project is an incredible piece of journalism, both visual and written, and a glimpse of the medium's future. For me, the work really comes alive online, not least because it provides a vivid example of how photojournalism can work brilliantly in the digital age. Hornstra and Van Bruggen are storytellers, and the many forms in which their stories appear reflect the fractured time we live in, as does the sprawling nature of their multimedia project. Whichever way you look at it, The Sochi Project is an incredible piece of journalism, both visual and written, and a glimpse of the medium's future.
• Antwerp's FotoMuseum is holding a retrospective of The Sochi Project until 2 March• Antwerp's FotoMuseum is holding a retrospective of The Sochi Project until 2 March
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