June 03, 2020

Worth A Thousand Words


Worth A Thousand Words
These aren't reenactors; this is one of Shirnina's projects. Olga Shirnina, Color by Klimbim

Olga Shirina, working under the online alias "Klimbim," is regarded as one of the best Photoshop colorizers of historical images. Her work is incredible, bringing vibrancy to what could be dull and lifeless images. But that hasn't stopped social media companies from clamping down and preventing the publication of her images.

History, of course, can be a touchy subject. Last month, Shirina's Facebook account was suspended for the publication of images from the 1940s featuring Nazi leaders and soldiers. This came after repeated temporary suspensions of her accounts on that website and Instagram.

"I work with real historical photos and they can't be corrected!" she is reported saying. According to her, her work has no political agenda, besides sharing her hobby.

Surprisingly, images of Soviet leaders, under whose rule millions perished, have not been flagged or triggered suspension.

Shirina, whose colorized images have appeared in Russian Life, can be seen here.

 

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Some of our Books

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Moscow and Muscovites

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This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

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93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

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The Moscow Eccentric

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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.

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