Lyudmila and Natasha ─ Russian Lives

The photojournalist Misha Friedman is renowned for his efforts to capture life in contemporary Russia, documenting subjects as varied as political corruption, the dangers of coal mining, the tuberculosis epidemic, and the Bolshoi Ballet. In publications ranging from the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, and the New Yorker, Friedman’s grimly evocative black-and-white images??intimate, behind-the-scenes photos” (Time)?have been credited with capturing moments of intense pathos, bleak existence, and human dignity. He has received multiple international awards for his ?unflinching” lens and his intrepid reporting.

For his new collection of photographs, Lyudmila and Natasha, Friedman trains his lens on a gay couple living on Saint Petersburg, offering a series of intimate snapshots of their relationship as it unfolds over the course of two years. Faced with a hostile political climate, financial difficulties, and often unstable living arrangements, the subjects of this stunning book reveal the possibilities for love in the most uncertain of times. With the fabled city of Saint Petersburg as its backdrop, Lyudmila and Natasha powerfully evokes both a vital place and the people who call it home.

Misha Friedman is an award-winning documentary photographer who has worked for various NGOs, including Medecins Sans Frontieres, in Uganda, Nigeria, India, and Darfur. His recent projects deal with the tuberculosis epidemic in the former Soviet Union and corruption in Russia. His photographs have appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the New Yorker, among other publications. He lives in New York City.