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.