{"id":518595,"date":"2025-10-22T03:13:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T03:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/518595\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T03:13:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T03:13:16","slug":"regulated-life-has-won-fifteen-years-ago-alexander-gronsky-photographed-moscows-unruly-outskirts-now-he-says-theyre-disappearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/518595\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Regulated life has won\u2019 Fifteen years ago, Alexander Gronsky photographed Moscow\u2019s unruly outskirts. Now he\u00a0says they\u2019re disappearing."},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifteen years ago, Russian photographer Alexander Gronsky released Pastoral<\/a>, a\u00a0series of\u00a0landscape photos taken on\u00a0the outskirts of\u00a0Moscow that depict the fragile boundary between the ever-expanding city and the nature surrounding\u00a0it. Since then, the Russian capital\u2019s area has more than doubled<\/a>, and its population has increased by\u00a0nearly 2 million people. After returning to\u00a0capture Moscow\u2019s new outskirts a\u00a0decade and a\u00a0half later, Gronsky spoke to\u00a0journalists from the independent cooperative Bereg<\/a> about what he\u00a0found there.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Both now and 15 years ago, when you were working on\u00a0your series Pastoral, you spent time walking around the outskirts of\u00a0Moscow. Were your impressions different this time?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014 The outskirts have changed dramatically, of\u00a0course. Back then, even beyond the Ring Road and surprisingly close to\u00a0the city center, you could stumble upon all kinds of\u00a0pockets of\u00a0a\u00a0completely different life. You\u2019d turn a\u00a0corner, head down a\u00a0little path, and suddenly find yourself in\u00a0a\u00a0totally different world \u2014\u00a0almost like a\u00a0jungle,\u00a0overgrown and wild. Teenagers would set up\u00a0their hideouts there, and homeless people built shelters. In\u00a0Ramenki, there was literally a\u00a0Roma camp.<\/p>\n

Exploring the outskirts, you could discover entirely different landscapes. Sometimes it\u00a0was like stumbling upon ancient human settlements: here\u2019s a\u00a0fire pit, some stones, scraps of\u00a0food. It\u00a0felt more unsettling than it\u00a0does now, but also more mysterious.<\/p>\n

The changes we\u2019re seeing in\u00a0the city \u2014\u00a0and I\u2019m generally in\u00a0favor of\u00a0them, all these parking spaces, sidewalks, streetlights, benches \u2014\u00a0have taken over those empty lots and overgrown areas. They\u2019ve become safer, more livable, and more patrolled. They\u2019ve been absorbed into the unified urban environment. But that sense of\u00a0romantic, unexpected encounters with the mysterious,\u00a0that\u2019s gone. Now, everywhere you look, you feel the guiding hand of\u00a0city planning.<\/p>\n

\u2014 It\u2019s interesting you mention safety. Because if\u00a0you think about the bigger picture, it\u2019s hard to\u00a0say that Moscow \u2014 or\u00a0anywhere in\u00a0Russia, really \u2014\u00a0has become safer overall.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014 Of\u00a0course. We\u00a0have to\u00a0understand that this feeling of\u00a0safety comes at\u00a0a\u00a0cost. I\u00a0mean, if\u00a0you read any of\u00a0those Telegram channels about city news and local incidents, the stories are often like this: someone leaves a\u00a0bag on\u00a0a\u00a0bench, someone else picks it\u00a0up, but they\u2019re immediately detained and the bag is\u00a0returned. Or\u00a0a\u00a0stolen bicycle is\u00a0quickly recovered. You probably wouldn\u2019t see stories like that in\u00a0Europe.<\/p>\n

To\u00a0make that possible, a\u00a0city has to\u00a0be\u00a0saturated with surveillance \u2014\u00a0facial recognition cameras everywhere, and so\u00a0on. On\u00a0the level of\u00a0everyday comfort, it\u2019s incredibly convenient. But you constantly feel like you\u2019re being watched. There are cameras in\u00a0parks, even deep in\u00a0Bitsa Park. There are also streetlights everywhere.<\/p>\n

So\u00a0what\u2019s happening is\u00a0a\u00a0trade-off: basic comfort and a\u00a0sense of\u00a0safety in\u00a0exchange for a\u00a0kind of\u00a0extreme discomfort and an\u00a0extreme lack of\u00a0real freedom or\u00a0security.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Is\u00a0it\u00a0still possible to\u00a0get lost in\u00a0Moscow?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014 It\u00a0makes me\u00a0happy when that happens. If\u00a0I\u00a0get the feeling of\u00a0\u201cI\u00a0wonder what\u2019s around that corner,\u201d if\u00a0I\u00a0find myself wandering without any planned route, just chasing an\u00a0image or\u00a0a\u00a0mood, that\u2019s a\u00a0joyful feeling.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Are your routes through Moscow\u2019s outskirts spontaneous, or\u00a0is\u00a0there an\u00a0element of\u00a0planning involved?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014 I\u2019ve been photographing Moscow for so\u00a0many years that a\u00a0kind of\u00a0map has come together in\u00a0my\u00a0head. But every now and then, of\u00a0course, I\u00a0still stumble upon something unexpected, like the Grad Moskovsky<\/a> neighborhood. I\u00a0ended up\u00a0there for the first time just because I\u00a0saw a\u00a0bus with that destination and I\u00a0realized I\u00a0absolutely had to\u00a0go\u00a0check it\u00a0out.<\/p>\n

\u2014 When you were on\u00a0the outskirts this time around, did you get the feeling that the city\u2019s borders are disappearing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014 The boundaries have become very blurred. Where Moscow technically ends, its satellite towns begin, and then you get satellites of\u00a0those satellites. Visually, it\u2019s almost impossible to\u00a0tell whether you\u2019re still in\u00a0the city or\u00a0already in\u00a0the suburbs. The same things are happening out there: riverfronts are being developed with the same granite embankments, the same standardized park architecture.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a\u00a0mix of\u00a0new high-rises and metro stations that seem to\u00a0pop up\u00a0right in\u00a0the middle of\u00a0the woods,\u00a0and yet you realize that in\u00a0five or\u00a010 years, the forest will be\u00a0gone, replaced by\u00a0more construction.<\/p>\n

Yes, the sense of\u00a0a\u00a0boundary is\u00a0slipping away. And the territory I\u2019m most interested in\u00a0is\u00a0precisely that edge \u2014\u00a0where this polished, master-planned cityscape starts to\u00a0break down. That\u2019s why I\u00a0look for footpaths people use to\u00a0cut across to\u00a0the metro, holes in\u00a0fences\u2026 It\u2019s an\u00a0attempt to\u00a0find the disappearing edge of\u00a0the city. Because inside that edge, everything is\u00a0gradually starting to\u00a0look like a\u00a03D render.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Speaking of\u00a0rendering, do\u00a0you ever feel like a\u00a0new visual code of\u00a0urban life is\u00a0emerging? For instance, with the renovation program, entire Soviet-era neighborhoods are disappearing, replaced by\u00a0new districts of\u00a0mass-produced housing that already look very different.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014 For me, that \u201crendered\u201d feeling comes from the scale and speed of\u00a0the transformation. New Moscow feels like they\u2019ve built several entirely new cities in\u00a0just a\u00a0few years \u2014\u00a0with their own town squares, metro stations, boulevards, and highway interchanges. The pace is\u00a0staggering. As\u00a0far as\u00a0I\u00a0know, for several years now, the construction rates in\u00a0Moscow have actually those of\u00a0the Khrushchev era.<\/p>\n

Maybe if\u00a0you live in\u00a0one of\u00a0these buildings, the changes feel slower, more natural \u2014\u00a0maybe even long overdue. But if\u00a0you\u2019re just observing from the outside and dropping in\u00a0every six months, the speed of\u00a0change feels unreal. It\u00a0creates this strange impression that none of\u00a0it\u00a0can possibly be\u00a0real.<\/p>\n

\u2018Images of loneliness\u2019 Russian photographer Alexander Gronsky on what it\u2019s like to document a country closing in on itself<\/a>\u2018Images of loneliness\u2019 Russian photographer Alexander Gronsky on what it\u2019s like to document a country closing in on itself<\/a><\/p>\n

And since so\u00a0much of\u00a0it\u00a0is\u00a0being built at\u00a0the same time, everything looks brand new, all at\u00a0once. The city starts to\u00a0feel like it\u00a0just came out of\u00a0a\u00a0showroom \u2014 fresh off the shelf. There\u2019s a\u00a0slightly eerie, stage-set quality to\u00a0it.<\/p>\n

But I\u00a0think that will fade pretty quickly. I\u00a0love to\u00a0be\u00a0critical, but credit where it\u2019s due: a\u00a0lot of\u00a0these new neighborhoods on\u00a0the outskirts of\u00a0Moscow are actually quite livable and well-adapted to\u00a0everyday life.<\/p>\n

On\u00a0the other hand, when a\u00a0city becomes purely a\u00a0tool carrying out a\u00a0function, something feels lost. Everything becomes too rational. I\u00a0know it\u2019s kind of\u00a0a\u00a0silly complaint, but that feeling is\u00a0there. As\u00a0if\u00a0a\u00a0city should also have something irrational about it, something a\u00a0little neglected, as\u00a0if\u00a0it\u00a0should have layers.<\/p>\n

Still, I\u2019m genuinely glad that more people now have access to\u00a0housing. For many, getting an\u00a0apartment is\u00a0a\u00a0major life event. And I\u00a0really don\u2019t want to\u00a0talk about these new districts in\u00a0a\u00a0negative light. In\u00a0fact, my\u00a0wife and I\u00a0were just saying the other day that, hypothetically, living in\u00a0one of\u00a0those new neighborhoods in\u00a0New Moscow could actually be\u00a0pretty nice.<\/p>\n

Sure, there\u2019s probably a\u00a0gap between those words and my\u00a0photographs \u2014\u00a0photos of\u00a0fences, empty lots, and muddy slush. But for me, there\u2019s no\u00a0contradiction. People often message me\u00a0on\u00a0Instagram saying, \u201cThis isn\u2019t my\u00a0Moscow.\u201d They think they\u2019re criticizing\u00a0me. But actually, I\u00a0completely agree with them. My\u00a0photography is\u00a0just a\u00a0record of\u00a0my\u00a0own path, my\u00a0own trail through that space.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0Your photos show people trying to\u00a0slip through fences and reclaim empty parking lots to\u00a0turn them into places for leisure. The empty parking lots, in\u00a0these cases, aren\u2019t really empty. What kinds of\u00a0space are they?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0I\u2019ve been trying to\u00a0put it\u00a0into words \u2014\u00a0maybe empty parking lots are islands of\u00a0freedom. And the symbol of\u00a0that freedom is\u00a0the picnic. People light fires on\u00a0empty lots, because you can\u2019t make fires in\u00a0parks. Parks are for \u201ccivilized\u201d recreation. Even though now many parks have little barbecue huts. Everything\u2019s neatly arranged; there\u2019s an\u00a0official grill zone.<\/p>\n

\u2014 So\u00a0the empty parking lot is\u00a0an\u00a0unregulated space.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014 Exactly. But we\u00a0also have to\u00a0admit that these unregulated spaces seem to\u00a0be\u00a0less and less in\u00a0demand. I\u00a0would have thought the opposite \u2014\u00a0that with such a\u00a0high population density, people would be\u00a0fighting over these last little anarchic corners. But it\u00a0seems the opposite is\u00a0happening. Everything\u2019s ready to\u00a0follow the rules and relax the \u201cproper\u201d way. It\u00a0feels like regulated life has won.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fifteen years ago, Russian photographer Alexander Gronsky released Pastoral, a\u00a0series of\u00a0landscape photos taken on\u00a0the outskirts of\u00a0Moscow that depict…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4021,4020,4022,77,16,15,7888,7883,7886,7875,7868,7880,7870,7881,7887,7876,7864,7871,7865,7873,7874,7866,7869,7867,7885,7879,7872,7884,7882,7878,7877],"class_list":{"0":"post-518595","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-design","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-7888","15":"tag-7883","16":"tag-7886","17":"tag-7875","18":"tag-7868","19":"tag-7880","20":"tag-7870","21":"tag-7881","22":"tag-7887","23":"tag-7876","24":"tag-7864","25":"tag-7871","26":"tag-7865","27":"tag-7873","28":"tag-7874","29":"tag-7866","30":"tag-7869","31":"tag-7867","32":"tag-7885","33":"tag-7879","34":"tag-7872","35":"tag-7884","36":"tag-7882","37":"tag-7878","38":"tag-7877"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115415639934525096","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}