Motherland

by Rosamund Bartlett, Simon Roberts (Photographer)

The result of photographer Simon Roberts' one year journey, Motherland is a bold visual statement about the nature of contemporary Russia 15 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Roberts traveled throughout Russia between July 2004 and August 2005, making pictures in more than 200 locations and creating one of the most extensive, comprehensive photographic accounts of this vast country by a Westerner. His images are not clichéd representations of a Russia ground down by poverty and despair; rather, Roberts presents a beautiful, awe-inspiring land with a dignified people empowered by a growing optimism and a deeply rooted sense of national esteem. Intimate and revealing portraits of contemporary Russians show us a diverse people united by a sense of common identity, while breathtaking landscapes reveal the complexity and uniqueness of the country.

Genres: Photography

192 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

Rosamund Bartlett is a cultural historian with expertise in Russian literature, music, and art. She has a particular interest in European Modernism, opera, and the intersection between politics, history and the arts, and has lectured on these subjects at universities and public institutions around the world. Her books include Wagner and Russia and Tolstoy: A Russian Life. She has also written a biography of Chekhov, and published translations of his short stories and letters. Her new translation of Anna Karenina was published in 2014.

She is a Trustee of the Anton Chekhov Foundation, for which is she currently overseeing the Early Chekhov Translation Project and the Anton Chekhov’s Garden project, which was launched with a show garden at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, 2-8 July 2018