Sochi, The Russian Riviera Of 1988 Through The Lens Of Photographer Carl De Keyzer
Popular among Russian and Eastern European vacationers, Sochi is a resort city on the Black Sea. Carl De Keyzer traveled there during the years just prior to the fall of the USSR and managed to capture the atmosphere of impending transition and change. Continue reading »
Nike Unveils Team USA Medal Stand Footwear and Apparel for Sochi 2014
When the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes compete in Sochi this winter, they’ll celebrate victory in the latest cold weather innovations from Nike. The Nike Aeroloft 800 Summit Jacket and the Nike Flyknit Trainer Chukka FSB provide warmth with less weight in fresh and contemporary silhouettes. Soulful details, some only visible to the athlete, finish the look. Continue reading »
2014 Olympic Host City Sochi is a Strange Place
Before its selection to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, which start in February, Sochi was unknown to most people outside of Russia.
That anonymity led photographer Rob Hornstra and writer Arnold van Bruggen to embark on a five-year project to investigate the city on the Black Sea. Their work is collected in a photo book, “An Atlas Of War and Tourism in the Caucasus,” released recently by Aperture.
Here are a few of the people and places that Hornstra and van Bruggen uncovered:
Sochi lies in the Caucasus bordered by Chechnya, Georgia, Abkhazia, and other regions that have had sectarian violence in recent years. Gimry (pictured below) was a center of resistance to Russian hegemony in the North Caucasus in the 19th century and now.
A 200-Year Conflict. (© Rob Hornstra / Courtesy Flatland Gallery)
Sochi is famous for its sanatoria, a type of health resort. Stalin famously ruled Russia from Sochi because he loved its sanatorium so much. Below, tourists on a beach relax outside the less-famous sanatorium in Adler, in between Sochi and the Olympic stadium cluster. Continue reading »
«Welcome! Sochi 2014»: The Dark Side of Sochi Olympic Games
Exactly one year before the long awaited Sochi Olympics, Vladimir Putin went to Sochi personally to see how the construction is going. After receiving a report saying the ski jumps that were supposed to be ready in 2011, are not completed still, while their price has sky-rocketed from 1.2 billion to 8 billion roubles, he commented, “Good for you. Good job”, and then fired the vice president of the Olympic committee.
Russian artist Vasily Slonov painted his view of the upcoming games, giving a new interpretation to the adored Russian mascot Cheburashka, and combining officially endorsed stereotypes of Russia with grimmer and less accepted ones. Continue reading »
Photo of the Day: Men Fish Near Black Sea Resort of Sochi
A woman sunbathes as men fish on a lake outside the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, on Aug. 7. (Mikhail Mordasov / AFP – Getty Images)
