Guselia
By sharon boothroyd
About this art
Genre: People
Medium: Photography
Size: 50.00cm x 50.00cm
Year: 2008
This image is part of a series which portrays the culture of the largest minority people group in Russia; Tatars. The capital of Tatarstan, kazan, boasts that Russians and Tatars dwell together in peace unlike any other city in the world. I wanted to document how the people retain their sense of identity as individuals while living in such close quarters to family or friends. In this small room there live four girls with all their personal belongings, the room is so small that their beds are touching.
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About the artist
Female identity has always been at the forefront of my work. I am interested in how women think and where they place their identity as they construct themselves into the image they are ready to present to the world.
I visited Kazan last summer to attend a course in Kazan State University on Tatar culture, history and language. Tatarstan is a region in Russia where intriguing identity traits and nuances are apparent due to the unique amalgamation of Russian and Islamic cultures. In terms of female identity I found it motivating to see the astounding confidence and ambition the women have, yet with a simultaneous respect and desire to be part of a wider collective, namely family. During my visit to Kazan, I was forced to consider how identities are formed by the connections of family, culture and community. Can people truly be independent individuals, or are their identities forever determined by culture and environment?
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