Eight Shades of Putin GreyTodd Prince Photography

Eight Shades of Putin Grey

‘What is the secret of his vitality?’ reads this Russian paper.

You can’t escape seeing images of Russian President Vladimir Putin around Moscow, be it shirts with his portrait, refrigerator magnets, iPhone covers, plastic or metallic busts.

Outside the TASS news agency, which is about 1,000 meters from the Kremlin, stand huge prints of striking photographs from around Russia.

If you like photojournalism, you will love the Tass exhibition, which consists of about 40-50 photos. Russia is many things – including a source of amazing landscapes and street photo scenes….which is why I still enjoy living here after so many years.

However, among the many great photos in the exhibition, one jumped out….a close-up of Putin in a hockey uniform.

Maybe it jumped out at me because he is everywhere. Maybe because it stands facing a busy intersection that many people pass daily. Maybe because it underscores the view that ‘big brother’ is watching you in Russia.

Maybe because he is such a controversial figure and you can’t get past page three of any major newspaper without seeing a story about him.

Whatever the reason, I just had to photograph the scene. So, I stood on the corner snapping photos as people walked by.

Over the course of about eight minutes, I took more than a dozen photos. Here is the result of eight different people walking by the photo (one person walked by twice, so there are nine photos in the gallery below).

For the fun of it, I edited them in eight different shades of black and white. It is interesting to see what people are doing as they pass the photo.

I hope you enjoy eight minutes in the life of Moscow.

Photo Gallery – Eight Shades of Putin Grey