Voronezh



Voronezh

Name: Kristina Brazhnikova

Age: 28

Profession: Photographer

City: Voronezh

How long have you been doing photography? What style or genre most interests you? 

My first attempts at photography were when I was 16, when I tried to shoot landscapes on a compact film camera nicknamed a мыльница. When I was a student, I studied in a photo studio, and since 2010 I have been earning money from my photography. In 2013 I began to work as a photojournalist. This is the style I most enjoy, along with documentary photography.

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

Voronezh is a city of a million souls located about 500 km south of Moscow. It made its mark in history as the place where Peter the Great decided to build Russia's first regular naval fleet (in the year 1700) During World War II, Voronezh was about 90 percent decimated by the fighting, so very few old buildings remain. Today it is a very statistically average post-Soviet city, yet it would be untrue to call it depressing. In recent years, the city has had all sorts of festivals of art and culture, all organized at a rather high level. What is more, students from all over the country come to study in Voronezh, since there are many universities here.

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

Voronezh Reservoir is a rather dirty water source. Legend has it that some foreign company offered to clean it up for free, on the condition that anything found on its bottom would become their property. The powers that be refused, because there are treasures down there. 

There is another belief that Voronezh is home to Russia's most beautiful girls. According to that legend, Peter the Great had beautiful women brought here from all over Russia, in order that they would marry shipbuilders, so that the latter would settle in the city.

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

The reservoir is one of my favorite places in the city. It is very large, and it is nice to walk along its banks in the summer, or along the sandy beaches, or through the marshy thickets. And in the winter, when the frosts cover it with thick ice, you can stroll right out onto the reservoir, and you feel not as if you are in the middle of a city of a million people, but somewhere in the snowy netherlands.

There are many small monuments in the city: to The Cat from Lizyukov Street (a Soviet era animated film hero), to White Bim (a famous dog from Russian literature), to The Stranger, and to the first Soviet paratroopers. It's very nice to walk along the streets and courtyards of the historical center, through the restored Central Park (which connects to a forest), and the Scarlet Sails park.

Your website: kristinabrazhnikova.com

Your Instagram: @kristina.brazhnikova


International Platonov Arts Festival. The city hosts modern productions by European and Russian theaters, musicians, exhibitions and a parade of street performers.

Photo credit: Kristina Brazhnikova / @kristina.brazhnikova

'" data-speed="500" data-slideshow-speed="1000"> Parade

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.
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.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
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.
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...

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