Tomsk



Tomsk

Name: Vladimir Dudarev

Age: 32

Profession: Photographer

City: Tomsk

How long have you been doing photography? What style or genre most interests you? I have een taking photos for about 12 years. My favourite genre is photojournalism

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for? Tomsk is a Siberian city, about a four-hour plane journey east of Moscow. It was founded in 1604. It's famous for its architecture and universities. Wooden architecture is the hallmark and highlight of the city. Truly, it's a treasure on a global scale. The six universities are crucial city landmarks, and Tomsk is has one of Russia's highest student populations.

What is something about your city that only locals would know? Up until 1925 Tomsk was the capital of a very large region that included Altai Krai, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk and Tomsk Oblasts and a part of Krasnoyarsk Krai. In 1903 the Transsiberian Railway came into operation, but it did not go directly through Tomsk, which turned it into a provincial city. One legend has it that the reason Tomsk was bypassed was because local transport workers bribed railway planners to exclude Tomsk, but the reality was far simpler: if the railway had included Tomsk, it would have been 100 kilometers longer.

Lenin Avenue is the main promenade of the city and something of a vanity fair. It's the street of first meetings, meetings with friends, first kisses and weddings. It's also the street where you grab a bite to eat between classes or worry before exams. It's a street of bicycles, prams and motorcycles. It's a street of old women selling flowers and of street musicians. It's a street of churches, monuments, cold feet and cafes to go to after the theatre. It is the Nevsky Prospekt, Broadway and the Champs-Elysees of Tomsk.

Which places or sites are a must for someone to see if they visit your city? You must see Shishkova Street, Kuznetsova Street, Tatarskaya Street, which have the highest concentrations of wooden architecture. Also, there are very beautiful university buildings. Lagerny Garden is a favourite place to walk with children and one of the main wedding cortege targets.

Instagram: @vovadudarev



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

Some of Our Books

Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
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.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
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. 
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.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
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.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
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.

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