Snezhana von Büdingen

Concept

I chose the first verse of a poem by the famous Russian poet Sergei Esenin as the title for my portfolio.

âGoodbye, my friend, goodbye.
My love, you are in my heart.
It was preordained we should part
And be reunited by and by.

Goodbye: no handshake to endure.
Let's have no sadness - furrowed brow.
ThereÕs nothing new in dying now.
Though living is no newer.Õ
Sergei Esenin, 1925

The series of photographs was taken in the small Russian village where I grew up, not far from Vladimir. It shows the âdepartureÔ of a generation and, with it, the entire village. Those who remain appear to no longer live in their living bodies.

That whole villages die out is a problem in todayÕs Russia. Unfortunately, a problem that no one likes to talk about.