In recent years, a lot of surprisingly rich archival photo series has been published on Moscow and on Russia in general. This is only partly explained by the easier access to the archives and collections of the former Soviet Union. A rather more important reason is that the interest in the city and its history has been livened up in a previously unimaginable way both at home and abroad, which created a wide public for this kind of photos.

From Poemas del río Wang blog. Moscow 1900-1960

This post is for Iain late of Little House In The Paddy blog – and so much more… Do take a look at the photos at the end of the blog sited above.

Viewing these black and white photographs this evening brings up a mix of emotion and sentiment. Excitement and mystery and rigor, honor and pathos. And an odd sense of the tragic too. All these thoughts could be attached to the way I have been thinking about goodly Iain as his sudden passing becomes less raw.

There are people who touch our lives
and there are people touched by ours.

Just sometimes these two people meet
and most often they don’t realize….

Until later.

Goodness! And there are these The Lithuanian School, photographs. They rival the big names in black and white documentary photography….