Lenin: No Longer an Icon
This was shot in 1989. Gorbachev was in power and it was the beginning of Glasnost and Perestroika. Russians were glued to their radios and tvs trying to figure out what it would all mean to their lives.
Lenin’s portraits and statues were everywhere. Here is one several stories high hanging from the front of Moscow’s largest department store: GUM. There was very little that you could buy in there. Either the shelves were empty or if they contained items, they were only for show.
Gum Department Store now selling the latest fashions
This is the GUM department store now. It’s full of pricey merchandise and looks like a mall in Beverly Hills. The Russian penchant for crowd control prevails, and you’d better be sneaky with your camera or someone will start scolding you.
It's lonely at Lenin's tomb these days
This was shot from a balcony in the GUM store. No one was lined up to see poor old Lenin. Last time the line was around the mausoleum. People dressed in their ethnic best from Central Asia and other parts stood proudly for photographs in front of this ‘reliquary” of communism. Now, not so much.
- St. Basil’s serves as a backdrop for Russian Bombshells
Even beautiful St. Basil’s Cathedral isn’t getting respect as these young women are more interested in their facade than in St. Basil’s.