SLAV GAZE

This photo series reflects on Eastern European culture as seen on social media. In many post-Soviet countries, there is a tendency for people to post pictures of luxurious meals, to show how well they are dressed, or to display the latest fancy item they’ve purchased. While many focus on feeding their eyes with such glamorous objects, I’ve wondered why the surrounding environment is often overlooked. Some psychologist on an audio podcast once suggested, that this tendency stems from a deep craving for beauty, born out of the “ugliness” that surrounds many people - primarily the brutalist, grey architecture. This resonates with the post-Soviet experience, where the aesthetic of everyday life can feel harsh or bleak. Through this project, I aim to embrace the unique beauty of our culture by juxtaposing traditional and popular Slavic foods with various world cuisines. These visual landscapes, marked by rawness and history, are inseparable from our identity. They remain a part of us, even as we seek to distract ourselves with more polished imagery. Our cultural identity, intertwined with these enduring environments, stays within us forever.