A collection of one hundred and twenty photographs from the four corners of Russia.

I stumbled across this book by accident, late on a Saturday night. The brilliant red cover caught my eye, and I felt compelled to just flip through it and see what it held. I found myself swept away by Moore's visions of Russia. I could've stood there and looked through the whole thing, cover to cover.

Like many westerners, I've acquired some very particular ideas about Russia through the news coverage and historical biases that surround the country. This book smashed many of them. There is so much beauty between these two covers. Moore has found Russia's soul and captured it with his camera. There's squalor here, yes, and there's deprivation and heartache and want. But there is also a country in which even the most wretched corner can hold untold treasures.

Moore has captured an architecture that speaks of a desire to find and hold beauty, of all costs. He's photographed unsmiling people, (part of Russian culture, if I can believe what my high school taught me; the Russian people want to be seen as serious, and so will rarely smile when the camera is on them), who nevertheless carry themselves with strength. He's shown us streets and homes and offices where severity and decadence combine, often in startling ways. His use of light is remarkable, and his composition is fantastic. Each and every one of these pictures speaks not only of what it represents but of what lies behind the image.

I highly recommend this. ( )