Saratov



Saratov

Name: Elena Kotova

Age: 38

Profession: Artist, photographer

City: Saratov

How long have you been photographing? What sort of photography most interests you? I became interested in photography when I was 18, while studying in art school. I surrendered to the influence of a girlfriend and began visiting a photo studio. Photography has allowed me to be more free in my compositions than in classical painting. I began by shooting on a Zenit-E, which I borrowed along with some expired film. After my studies I found work in the oldest and best known photo salon in Saratov. There I was able to work in various genres and learn every stage in the creation of an image. I photographed in wide and medium format film, developed, retouched, and printed, all by hand.

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for? Saratov is on the right bank of the river Volga. The name has Turkic origins and translates as "Yellow Mountain." But there are no mountains here, just hills, which have their own names: Falcon's Mountain, Bald Mountain, Cherry Mountain... The city's crest has three sterlet on it. These are fish of the sturgeon family, which previously were rather numerous in the Volga.

What are some things that only locals would know about the city? 

Not far from Saratov is the place where Yuri Gagarin, the world's first cosmonaut, came back to Earth.

Almost every resident of Saratov has a dacha – in the city, on its outskirts, or on the Volga. It is a very small piece of land with a summer house. We live in our dachas all summer, raising berries, vegetables and fruits... to get ready for the long winter. Anyone who does not have a dacha, but has a boat, spends the summer in a tent on islands in the middle of the Volga. They catch fish, then salt and dry them. Dried vobla is a favorite appetizer to eat with beer.

Which places or sites are a must for someone to see if they visit your city? One must visit Kirov Prospect, the city's main pedestrian street. Or stroll in the evening along Cosmonaut's Embankment. You can also rent a boat and sail in the channels between the Volga islands.

Instagram: @kotofotova

 



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

Some of Our Books

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
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...
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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.
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.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

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