Solvychegodsk



Solvychegodsk

Name: Anton Unitsyn

Age: 29

Profession: Photographer 

City: Solvychegodsk

How long have you been doing photography? What style or genre most interests you? I fell into photography by accident; I never dreamed of becoming a professional photographer. At first it was a hobby, but with time it turned into my favorite activity. I began to be drawn into photography in 2006, and became a professional in 2009. From the very beginning, I have been most interested in real, unplanned, un-staged photography. To this day I remain convinced of this and for the most part do documentary photography.

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for?

Solvychegodsk is in Arkhangelsk Oblast. It is a city with a great past and a quiet present. It was founded in the sixteenth century, and its name is derived from two words: salt (соль) and vychegda. Salt was the city's basic trade resource and the reason for its rise. Vychegda is the name of the river, upon which the city was founded.

What is something about your city that only locals would know?

Solvychegodsk was the cradle of the famous Stroganov dynasty. In gratitude for their wealth, as believers, they built many churches in the city – thirteen by all accounts. Solvychegodsk was a place of political exile, and was "visited" for that reason by such historical personalities as Gannibal, Pushkin's grandfather, and Joseph Stalin.

Which places or sites are a must for someone to see if they visit your city?

Vvedensky Sobor, Blagoveshchensky Sobor, the Sanatorium for Treatment with Unique Sulphurous Mud.

Anything else you would like to add?

Since the sixteenth century, as the value of salt has fallen, so has the general condition of the city. At the beginning of century there were 13 churches [built by the Stroganovs], but just 3 remain. This is largely connecte with the communist period and the persecution of churches that occured then. However, in the Soviet era the city developed through industry, yet after the fall of the USSR the majority of the city's enterprises were shuttered. Since 1992, the population of Solvychegodsk has been cut in half. At present, the city's most prosperous enterprise is the local sanatorium that offers healing treatments with unique sulphurous muds.

Your website: unitsyn.com

Your Instagram: @unitsyn



Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955