20,000 Miles Of Beautiful Eastern European Bus Stops, One Fascinating Story
by N/A, 9 years ago |
2 min read
If you ever do any photography in Eastern Europe, just don't do anything that could be interpreted as suspicious. You may be labeled a spy and have your life threatened.
At least, that was the case for Christopher Herwig.
The Canadian photographer set out to put together a series comprised of pictures of various Eastern European bus stops...
Which are all distinctly unique and have a certain mysterious history about them.
The project began spontaneously in 2002 when Herwig challenged himself to take "one good picture every hour" on a long distance bike ride from London to St. St. Petersburg.
13 countries, 12 years, and almost 20,000 miles later, he published the arduously assembled series "Soviet Bus Stops."
However, the project wasn't without it's challenges.
“Despite my efforts not to arouse suspicion I was, on several occasions, accused of being a spy and only narrowly avoided getting caught up in something rather awkward,†Herwig states.
However, "awkward" may be a bit of an understatement. The photographer goes on to talk about how his life would eventually threatened.
“In Abkhazia my driver accused me of being a Georgian agent and photographing sensitive material. He demanded a bribe, otherwise, it would be ‘straight to the militizia and a firing squad.'"
So if you're ever in Eastern Europe, just remember not to follow any one car for too long. They don't take too kindly to espionage.
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