IN THE FALL OF 2015, two journalists, Mikhail Mordasov and Paul E. Richardson, traveled 6,000 kilometers from Russia’s northwestern corner in the Arctic to its tropical southern shores in Sochi, on the Black Sea. The goal was to get behind the headlines, to view Russia from the ground, collecting powerful images and honest human stories that would offer a more subtle, complex picture of this fascinating country.
The Spine of Russia is a record of that epic, transconinental road trip. It includes over 200 stunning images of Russians and Russian places met along the way, plus a dozen texts (in both English and Russian) on everything from business to education, from roads to fools.
Central to the project are portraits of 43 Russians the journalists interviewed in-depth, each of whom was asked the same question: “Do you consider yourself a patriot, and if so, of what, and why?” Their widely-varied responses (produced in English and Russian alongside their portraits) are both revealing and thought— provoking.
Notably, the photo book is organized in a unique, non-linear style that allows readers to, in effect, construct their own trip across Russia.
