Nizhny Novgorod



Nizhny Novgorod

Name: Mikhail Solunin

Age: 28

Profession: Photographer 

City: Nizhny Novgorod

How long have you been doing photography? What style or genre most interests you? 

About five years. At first, I was only interested in doing photojournalism for mass media and commercial shooting. Now I am more interested in documentary photo stories and personal projects.

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for?

Nizhny Novgorod is located 430 kilometers from Moscow at the point where two of the largest rivers in European Russia: the Oka and the Volga. People call the place where the rivers meet Strelka ("arrow"). This is also the birthplace of famous people like the writer Maxim Gorky, the inventor Ivan Kulibin, the founder of Russian photojournalism Maxim Dmitriev, and the Russian politician and social activist Boris Nemtsov. In the past, Nizhny was famous for its Commercial Fair. Today the city's calling card is its kremlin, and its very modern Aerial Tram line, which spans 3660 meters and crosses the Volga River to the town of Bor. It is the only cable car in Russia or Europe that spans a body of water, in this case the 861 meters of the Volga.

What is something about your city that only locals would know? 

Nizhny Novgorod is perhaps the only city in Russia where Lenin Prospect crosses Ilyich Prospect. The city also has a church located inside a railway car. However, the Church of the Icon of the Reigning Mother of God is stationary and has the address: Ignatiev Brothers 1, kilometer 3.

Which places or sites are a must for someone to see if they visit your city?

It is worth visiting the kremlin. Pay for an excursion inside its walls and walk along its perimeter. One should also visit the Chkalovskaya Steps, on Fyodorovsky Embankment, from which there is a wonderful view of the lower part of the city, especially at sunset. Streets to visit include Bolshaya Pokrovskaya, Rozhdestvenskaya, Ilyinskaya.

 



Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955