Martha Casanave

LENINGRAD IN WINTER

This project (1988) is a series of pinhole (lensless) images depicting Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) as literary myth, frozen in time, both literally and figuratively. It was partially funded by the Polaroid Corporation. I was inspired by an essay by poet Joseph Brodsky (“Guide to A Renamed City”) in which he said “The lower the thermometer falls, the more abstract the city looks,” then describing in detail what Leningrad looks like under ice and snow. The pinhole technique (soft focus, long exposures) erased details of the present day, allowing the abstract, timeless look.


The Neva

Anichkov Bridge


Field of Mars


Children, Solianoi Garden

Lion, Mikhailovsky Garden

Leaning Trees, Mikhailovsky Garden

Ice, Summer Garden

The Fontanka

Jewish Cemetery, Leningrad

Peter & Paul Fortress

House Where Dostoevsky Was Arrested

Griboyedov Canal

 

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