Dina Dubrovskaya
Instant Yearbook | "instant yearbook", for which I photograph the pupils of small village schools in the region of Mordovia, Russia. This project started with my curiosity, with a wish to peek inside small, isolated places. But once I was there and met bright, exciting, rebellious young people, the project became about them – about their faces, smiles, thoughts and fears.
Some of the schools I’ve visited will be closed next year for the lack of students. So this project is also a try to create a yearbook of sorts for them. For the portraits I don’t ask children to strike some particular pose, they smile if they want to, though often they prefer to stay serious and look directly in the camera. I try to show them exactly as I found them – at their desks, reading the books, passing through the dark school corridors, turning to meet the gaze of a stranger. cargocollective.com/dinadubrovskaya
