I.
The donkey walk (Russian: хождение на осляти, шествие на осляти) is a Russian Orthodox Palm Sunday ritual reenactment of Jesus Christ's entry into Jerusalem. The best known historical donkey walk was practiced in Moscow from 1558 until 1693. The Metropolitan and later Patriarch of Moscow, representing Jesus Christ, rode on a "donkey" (actually a horse), while the Tsar of Russia humbly led the donkey on foot. From 1561 to 1655 the donkey walk began in the Kremlin and terminated at Trinity Cathedral (now Saint Basil's Cathedral), but in 1656 Patriarch Nikon reversed the order of procession. The donkey walk and the Great Blessing of Waters on Epiphany were the two most important Muscovite court ceremonies, emphasizing the tsar's respect for the Orthodox Church, projecting an image (not necessarily true) of harmony in politics. Similar rituals in other cities existed until 1678 until Moscow monopolized the ritual. The tradition was abolished by Peter I.
Text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_walk Original background image (OBI): 17th century engraving, Dutch. http://www.thg.ru/education/dva_grada/images/verbnoe_resize.jpg
The donkey walk (Russian: хождение на осляти, шествие на осляти) is a Russian Orthodox Palm Sunday ritual reenactment of Jesus Christ's entry into Jerusalem. The best known historical donkey walk was practiced in Moscow from 1558 until 1693. The Metropolitan and later Patriarch of Moscow, representing Jesus Christ, rode on a "donkey" (actually a horse), while the Tsar of Russia humbly led the donkey on foot. From 1561 to 1655 the donkey walk began in the Kremlin and terminated at Trinity Cathedral (now Saint Basil's Cathedral), but in 1656 Patriarch Nikon reversed the order of procession. The donkey walk and the Great Blessing of Waters on Epiphany were the two most important Muscovite court ceremonies, emphasizing the tsar's respect for the Orthodox Church, projecting an image (not necessarily true) of harmony in politics. Similar rituals in other cities existed until 1678 until Moscow monopolized the ritual. The tradition was abolished by Peter I.
Text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_walk Original background image (OBI): 17th century engraving, Dutch. http://www.thg.ru/education/dva_grada/images/verbnoe_resize.jpg
II.
For almost two years the perpetrators of the Streltsy revolt were vigorously questioned regarding the depths of the conspiracy against the tsar; in some cases, Peter himself tortured the hapless victims. While no grand conspiracy was ever uncovered, Peter elected to make an example of these men who stood as a vivid personification of a traditional and backwards Russia that he sought to change. Men were broken publicly on the wheel, heads were displayed on poles and the corpses of dead Streltsy were displayed for all to see for many months. In all, 1,182 were executed and 601 others were banished.
Text: http://blog.aurorahistoryboutique.com/tag/execution-of-the-streltsy/ OBI: Vasily Surikov, "Morning of Execution of Streltsy," 1881. Oil on canvas. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. http://www.russianpaintings.net/articleimg/surikov/surikov_streltsy_1881.jpg
For almost two years the perpetrators of the Streltsy revolt were vigorously questioned regarding the depths of the conspiracy against the tsar; in some cases, Peter himself tortured the hapless victims. While no grand conspiracy was ever uncovered, Peter elected to make an example of these men who stood as a vivid personification of a traditional and backwards Russia that he sought to change. Men were broken publicly on the wheel, heads were displayed on poles and the corpses of dead Streltsy were displayed for all to see for many months. In all, 1,182 were executed and 601 others were banished.
Text: http://blog.aurorahistoryboutique.com/tag/execution-of-the-streltsy/ OBI: Vasily Surikov, "Morning of Execution of Streltsy," 1881. Oil on canvas. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. http://www.russianpaintings.net/articleimg/surikov/surikov_streltsy_1881.jpg
III.
The capital city, Moscow, is split into three parts; the first of them, called Kitai-gorod, is encircled with a solid thick wall. It contains an extraordinary beautiful church, all clad in shiny bright gems, called Jerusalem...Here is where the most illustrious princely, noble and merchant families live. Here is, also, the main muscovite marketplace: the trading square is built as a brick rectangle, with twenty lanes on each side where the merchants have their shops and cellars.
Text: Peer Peersson of Erlesunda, History of the Great Duchy of Moscow, 1620 OBI: Fedor Yakovlevich Alekseev, "Red Square in Moscow," 1801. Oil on canvas. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. http://img15.nnm.ru/6/c/c/d/b/4cad1d6aaffb1a820a529d648be.jpg
The capital city, Moscow, is split into three parts; the first of them, called Kitai-gorod, is encircled with a solid thick wall. It contains an extraordinary beautiful church, all clad in shiny bright gems, called Jerusalem...Here is where the most illustrious princely, noble and merchant families live. Here is, also, the main muscovite marketplace: the trading square is built as a brick rectangle, with twenty lanes on each side where the merchants have their shops and cellars.
Text: Peer Peersson of Erlesunda, History of the Great Duchy of Moscow, 1620 OBI: Fedor Yakovlevich Alekseev, "Red Square in Moscow," 1801. Oil on canvas. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. http://img15.nnm.ru/6/c/c/d/b/4cad1d6aaffb1a820a529d648be.jpg
IV.
In conjunction with the Socialist Classical style of architecture, Socialist realism was the officially approved type of art in the Soviet Union for nearly sixty years. All material goods and means of production belonged to the community as a whole; this included means of producing art, which were also seen as powerful propaganda tools. During the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks established an institution called Proletkult (the Proletarian Cultural and Enlightenment Organizations) which sought to put all arts into the service of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_realism OBI: Konstantin Yuon, "The Red Army Parade," 1923. Oil on canvas. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/konstantin-yuon/the-red-army-parade-1923
In conjunction with the Socialist Classical style of architecture, Socialist realism was the officially approved type of art in the Soviet Union for nearly sixty years. All material goods and means of production belonged to the community as a whole; this included means of producing art, which were also seen as powerful propaganda tools. During the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks established an institution called Proletkult (the Proletarian Cultural and Enlightenment Organizations) which sought to put all arts into the service of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_realism OBI: Konstantin Yuon, "The Red Army Parade," 1923. Oil on canvas. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/konstantin-yuon/the-red-army-parade-1923
V.
Moscow has been raided by the Luftwaffe, but in comparison with the bombings of London, the attacks were described as a medium blitz. More than 200 planes participated in the first attack on Monday night but they were spotted immediately, the majority being dispersed.
Text: Australian Associated Press, "German Bombing of Moscow: Defence Barrage Turns Back Majority of Raiders," The Canberra Times, July 24, 1941 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2575948 OBI: http://albumwar2.com/images/stories/photo/25.08.2011/guard%20city.jpg
Moscow has been raided by the Luftwaffe, but in comparison with the bombings of London, the attacks were described as a medium blitz. More than 200 planes participated in the first attack on Monday night but they were spotted immediately, the majority being dispersed.
Text: Australian Associated Press, "German Bombing of Moscow: Defence Barrage Turns Back Majority of Raiders," The Canberra Times, July 24, 1941 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2575948 OBI: http://albumwar2.com/images/stories/photo/25.08.2011/guard%20city.jpg
VI.
“Comrades, men of the Red Army and Red Navy, commanders and political instructors, men and women guerillas, the whole world is looking to you as the force capable of destroying the plundering hordes of German invaders. The enslaved peoples of Europe who have fallen under the yoke of the German invaders look to you as their liberators. A great liberating mission has fallen to your lot. Be worthy of this mission! The war you are waging is a war of liberation, a just war. Let the manly images of our great ancestors—Alexander Nevsky, Dimitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dimitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov—inspire you in this war! May the victorious banner of the great Lenin be your lodestar!”
Text: J. V. Stalin, excerpt from speech at the Red Army Parade on the Red Square, Moscow, November 7, 1941 http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1941/11/07.htm OBI: http://blindflaneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/red_square_1941.jpg
“Comrades, men of the Red Army and Red Navy, commanders and political instructors, men and women guerillas, the whole world is looking to you as the force capable of destroying the plundering hordes of German invaders. The enslaved peoples of Europe who have fallen under the yoke of the German invaders look to you as their liberators. A great liberating mission has fallen to your lot. Be worthy of this mission! The war you are waging is a war of liberation, a just war. Let the manly images of our great ancestors—Alexander Nevsky, Dimitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dimitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov—inspire you in this war! May the victorious banner of the great Lenin be your lodestar!”
Text: J. V. Stalin, excerpt from speech at the Red Army Parade on the Red Square, Moscow, November 7, 1941 http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1941/11/07.htm OBI: http://blindflaneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/red_square_1941.jpg
VII.
Crowds can believe almost anything because they rely on their imagination and impulses, rather than logic. Their behavior becomes a simple reaction to emotional images that they find terrifying or attractive. They may even collectively hallucinate.
-David A. Locher, Collective Behavior, 2001 OBI:http://www.studiolum.com/wang/russian/akhlomov/03.jpg
Crowds can believe almost anything because they rely on their imagination and impulses, rather than logic. Their behavior becomes a simple reaction to emotional images that they find terrifying or attractive. They may even collectively hallucinate.
-David A. Locher, Collective Behavior, 2001 OBI:http://www.studiolum.com/wang/russian/akhlomov/03.jpg
VIII.
The end result of the crisis was seen as a huge success for Kennedy but contributed to the downfall of Khrushchev in Russia.
Text: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cuban_missile_crisis.htm OBI: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/25/article-2053179-0069136B00000258-771_634x753.jpg
The end result of the crisis was seen as a huge success for Kennedy but contributed to the downfall of Khrushchev in Russia.
Text: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cuban_missile_crisis.htm OBI: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/25/article-2053179-0069136B00000258-771_634x753.jpg
IX.
OBI: http://euobserver.com/media/src/27a733f1a3c92c89b36ef8d861482c83.jpg
OBI: http://euobserver.com/media/src/27a733f1a3c92c89b36ef8d861482c83.jpg
X.
Russian president Dmitri Medvedev and prime minister Vladimir Putin at the Victory Day parade in 2009.
Text: http://euobserver.com/9/30030 OBI: Photo by Romania Libera. http://euobserver.com/media/src/27a733f1a3c92c89b36ef8d861482c83.jpg
Russian president Dmitri Medvedev and prime minister Vladimir Putin at the Victory Day parade in 2009.
Text: http://euobserver.com/9/30030 OBI: Photo by Romania Libera. http://euobserver.com/media/src/27a733f1a3c92c89b36ef8d861482c83.jpg
XI.
With digital stock photography, you get to see the final image even before you are granted the rights to use them and these images can be licensed immediately. The cost for stock photography, especially royalty-free images are [sic] much lower compared to assignment photography. Stock photography saves you model, photographer, location, props, art direction and editing costs.
Text: http://www.123rf.com/faq.php OBI: http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/andersonrise/andersonrise0911/andersonrise091101084/5858492-woman-tourist-in-moscow-russia.jpg
With digital stock photography, you get to see the final image even before you are granted the rights to use them and these images can be licensed immediately. The cost for stock photography, especially royalty-free images are [sic] much lower compared to assignment photography. Stock photography saves you model, photographer, location, props, art direction and editing costs.
Text: http://www.123rf.com/faq.php OBI: http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/andersonrise/andersonrise0911/andersonrise091101084/5858492-woman-tourist-in-moscow-russia.jpg
XII.
I had the exposure wrong with this one and it was hard to get right as the sun was shining right towards me…so the HDR look is not my preferred way to process but in this case it saved the image.
Text: http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2011/07/01/my-last-48-hours-in-photos/ OBI: http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/L9992633.jpg
I had the exposure wrong with this one and it was hard to get right as the sun was shining right towards me…so the HDR look is not my preferred way to process but in this case it saved the image.
Text: http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2011/07/01/my-last-48-hours-in-photos/ OBI: http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/L9992633.jpg
XIII.
Capitalism, free market and Perestroika have had a somewhat disfunctional way of becoming part of the daily life of Russians, big fat cars mingle with groups of women dressed in black, old men playing chess in the middle of the street...
Text: http://suchislife-marta.blogspot.com/2011/08/postcards-from-russia.html OBI: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r-lsGLAG8JY/Tk1hsVq-8FI/AAAAAAAAAGw/n0ABiEIto9k/s1600/DSCN1110.JPG
Capitalism, free market and Perestroika have had a somewhat disfunctional way of becoming part of the daily life of Russians, big fat cars mingle with groups of women dressed in black, old men playing chess in the middle of the street...
Text: http://suchislife-marta.blogspot.com/2011/08/postcards-from-russia.html OBI: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r-lsGLAG8JY/Tk1hsVq-8FI/AAAAAAAAAGw/n0ABiEIto9k/s1600/DSCN1110.JPG
XIV.
Twenty years after the fall of communism, Russia stands as a world power and Moscow is enshrined as a fashion capital and land of the planet's most spectacular women: women from Eastern Europe. Therefore the challenge consists in designing a 100 meters high Fashion Palace, containing exhibition areas for the world’s most important fashion houses, at their maximum magnificence, locating them in front os [sic] Moscow’s Red Square. It is an incredible opportunity for the winning architect to gain professional acknowledgment at a potential growing market, such as fashion houses buildings in Russia.
Text: Excerpt, competition rules for the “International Academic Architecture Competition: Moscow 2012 – Fashion Palace in the Red Square, Moscow,” by Arquitectum (www.arquitectum.com). Reproduced without permission. OBI: http://www.modifiedcars.com/gallery/2008/International_Automobile_Show_Moscow_Girls/high_2.jpg
Twenty years after the fall of communism, Russia stands as a world power and Moscow is enshrined as a fashion capital and land of the planet's most spectacular women: women from Eastern Europe. Therefore the challenge consists in designing a 100 meters high Fashion Palace, containing exhibition areas for the world’s most important fashion houses, at their maximum magnificence, locating them in front os [sic] Moscow’s Red Square. It is an incredible opportunity for the winning architect to gain professional acknowledgment at a potential growing market, such as fashion houses buildings in Russia.
Text: Excerpt, competition rules for the “International Academic Architecture Competition: Moscow 2012 – Fashion Palace in the Red Square, Moscow,” by Arquitectum (www.arquitectum.com). Reproduced without permission. OBI: http://www.modifiedcars.com/gallery/2008/International_Automobile_Show_Moscow_Girls/high_2.jpg
XV.
“The situation in the city is totally devastating. I feel like a smoked fish placed in an oven. I had to ask my boss if I could leave the city, and then fled to St. Petersburg to stay with my relatives. I did not care how much the tickets cost. I just had to get away from the hell that is Moscow right now. I grabbed the first available tickets and fled. I could not imagine that something like that was possible. God save us.”
- Irina, Moscow
“Moscow is not used to this kind of heat, which makes it devastating, and the smog has made the situation even more unimaginable. The city looks like a ghost town during the day with a dark sun burning overhead. The air we inhale is acrid and hard. The worst thing is that there is no clear explanation of how this smog is affecting our health. Some say the affects will be only temporary, others are saying it could be permanent.”
- Bekir Birden, Moscow
“We are trying to find places with air conditioning to hide. It is impossible to buy face masks or oxygen masks in pharmacies. It is also impossible to find any air conditioners. Children are being evacuated wherever possible. Pregnant women are really suffering. The affect on our health is unclear and frightening.”
- Yana Tulchinskaya, Moscow
Text: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10916011 OBI: http://www.zoenature.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/end-russia-smog-1.jpg
“The situation in the city is totally devastating. I feel like a smoked fish placed in an oven. I had to ask my boss if I could leave the city, and then fled to St. Petersburg to stay with my relatives. I did not care how much the tickets cost. I just had to get away from the hell that is Moscow right now. I grabbed the first available tickets and fled. I could not imagine that something like that was possible. God save us.”
- Irina, Moscow
“Moscow is not used to this kind of heat, which makes it devastating, and the smog has made the situation even more unimaginable. The city looks like a ghost town during the day with a dark sun burning overhead. The air we inhale is acrid and hard. The worst thing is that there is no clear explanation of how this smog is affecting our health. Some say the affects will be only temporary, others are saying it could be permanent.”
- Bekir Birden, Moscow
“We are trying to find places with air conditioning to hide. It is impossible to buy face masks or oxygen masks in pharmacies. It is also impossible to find any air conditioners. Children are being evacuated wherever possible. Pregnant women are really suffering. The affect on our health is unclear and frightening.”
- Yana Tulchinskaya, Moscow
Text: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10916011 OBI: http://www.zoenature.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/end-russia-smog-1.jpg
XVI.
The athletes really put on a holiday spectacular for the spectators. Igor Butman, a well-known jazz-man and saxophonist, said, “The show that the hockey players gave on the ice was a gripping performance. Look at the way that Larionov improvises, he’s really a phenomenal guy! It’s the same with Kasatonov and Kozhevnikov! All of these guys would be awesome jazz-men”.
Text: Svetlana Andreyeva, Voice of Russia World Service http://02varvara.wordpress.com/tag/red-square/ OBI: http://02varvara.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/hockey-on-red-square-in-moscow.jpg
The athletes really put on a holiday spectacular for the spectators. Igor Butman, a well-known jazz-man and saxophonist, said, “The show that the hockey players gave on the ice was a gripping performance. Look at the way that Larionov improvises, he’s really a phenomenal guy! It’s the same with Kasatonov and Kozhevnikov! All of these guys would be awesome jazz-men”.
Text: Svetlana Andreyeva, Voice of Russia World Service http://02varvara.wordpress.com/tag/red-square/ OBI: http://02varvara.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/hockey-on-red-square-in-moscow.jpg
XVII.
While we were navigating through the crowd, the cannons which were part of the concert (1812 Overture) were fired. I was so focused on getting closer to Yeltsin that when the cannons were fired,
it scared me half to death.
Text: Barry Pruett http://barrypruett.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-first-political-rally-september-26.html OBI: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zRXfiSerw3o/T06tZmnSrII/AAAAAAAAAGQ/TR2LRyfvRq8/s1600/rostropovich_0001.jpg
While we were navigating through the crowd, the cannons which were part of the concert (1812 Overture) were fired. I was so focused on getting closer to Yeltsin that when the cannons were fired,
it scared me half to death.
Text: Barry Pruett http://barrypruett.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-first-political-rally-september-26.html OBI: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zRXfiSerw3o/T06tZmnSrII/AAAAAAAAAGQ/TR2LRyfvRq8/s1600/rostropovich_0001.jpg
XVIII.
If it happens that the human race doesn't make it, then the fact that we were here once will not be altered, that once upon a time we peopled this astonishing blue planet, and wondered intelligently at everything about it and the other things who lived here with us on it, and that we celebrated the beauty of it in music and art, architecture, literature, and dance, and that there were times when we approached something godlike in our abilities and aspirations. We emerged out of depthless mystery, and back into mystery we returned, and in the end the mystery is all there is.
-J.H. Kunstler, The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, 2005 OBI: Photo manipulation by Vladimir Manjuhin. http://www.dana-mad.ru/gal/gallery.php?pID=29&sID=131
If it happens that the human race doesn't make it, then the fact that we were here once will not be altered, that once upon a time we peopled this astonishing blue planet, and wondered intelligently at everything about it and the other things who lived here with us on it, and that we celebrated the beauty of it in music and art, architecture, literature, and dance, and that there were times when we approached something godlike in our abilities and aspirations. We emerged out of depthless mystery, and back into mystery we returned, and in the end the mystery is all there is.
-J.H. Kunstler, The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, 2005 OBI: Photo manipulation by Vladimir Manjuhin. http://www.dana-mad.ru/gal/gallery.php?pID=29&sID=131
1. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground, 1864
2. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Demons, 1872
2. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Demons, 1872
