“I am Israeli”
Yaroslavl, Russia 2009 A woman rests on the wall of an Orthodox Church.
Our boat docked in Yaroslavl for several hours. We had a short tour and were then free to shop. I noticed some onion domes and started down the empty street to find the church. As I prowled through the overgrown church yard, this woman emerged from her home. I don’t remember how long we “communicated” but I do remember her saying that she was “Israeli”. I suppose she thought I’d understand that word better than the Russian word for Jew. I remember wondering if she wanted to go to Israel. Now, sitting at my computer, I have the idea that she thought that I, too, was Jewish. Remember ‘una faccia, una razza’? One explanation of that phrase is that Italian faces and Jewish faces are similar.
Her face radiates contentment and so does her posture. I think she is satisfied there in Yaroslavl and her portrait shows it.
Concert for One
I had no interaction with this man. He played his accordion on Moscow’s Arbat Street in hopes of earning some rubles. I liked the idea that the pigeon was listening to him. His shopping bag is gripped tightly between his knees. Perhaps he’s on his way home from the store but over spent and decided to play for an hour or two to make up for his extravagance.
I used Alien Skin’s Exposure 4 on the woman’s portrait to lend an illusion of a photo from an old album. For the accordion player, I used Photoshop’s mezzotint. It’s a good filter, try it sometime.