"I see these flowers for the first time” 

Georgia - 2023

 When the war began in Ukraine, many Russian oppositionists left their country. Some of them were politically chased, others couldn‘t live any longer under the dictatorship. 

Each of the following stories is different but the core story for all of these people is: they were forced to leave their home behind and start a new life somewhere else.

This project shows a group of Russian friends who moved separately to Tbilisi, Georgia. Non of them knew each other before and they got to know each other via different circumstances.

Each of these individuals supports Ukraine and most of them were previously protesting in Russia and Georgia against the war. Some of them have trauma and psychological issues after leaving their home-country, many of them calling Russia „Mordor“ - a reference to „Lord of the Rings“.

Georgia is a very open and guest-friendly country. But since Russia continues to occupy large parts of their land

(South Ossetia and Abkhazia), many Georgians are critical of Russian people.

Tbilisi - the capital of Georgia is home to much graffiti criticising Russians. Clubs and Bars exclude people with Russian passports. In fact the first question young people ask on online-dating-platforms is „where are you coming from?“. If the answer is „Russia“ or „Mordor“, they find themselves ghosted most of the time.

Having a Russian passport is not easy these days. Russians can no longer travel as freely or live in most of the previous places they were once welcome. In Georgia, for example, Russians can stay for only one year, after that they must leave Georgia and apply for a new visa from another country. 

During a two week trip I got to know Oleg and his friends and I began this story about the experiences of Russian ex patriots living in Tblilisi. 

I listened to many sad stories about deciding to leave their country, about the fear for getting arrested, their hate towards the dictatorship of Putin and the hopelessness of returning back to their old home.

In western media I no longer see much of the resistance of Russian people, but I am sure there are still many people against the war and against Putin. This photo project demonstrate that opposition is still alive in the Russian people. 

See the whole story as an index.