Xposure 2022: Russian photojournalist Sergey Ponomarev explores Moscow’s fragility and beauty during the pandemic

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Pulitzer Prize winner Ponomarev’s visuals of the megapolis during the pandemic’s first lockdown evoke the eerie beauty of emptiness

“The great emptiness and beauty of my capital city, Moscow, stand out in my photographs, and everyone of us can feel this emptiness in our own stories, memories and hopes,” said Russian photojournalist Sergey Ponomarev, while discussing ‘New Opportunities During the Pandemic Lockdown’ at the sixth edition of Xposure International Photography Festival.

Ponomarev’s photographs of the Russian capital shot in the spring of 2020 and titled, ‘Moscow: The Great Empty’ are on display at Expo Centre Sharjah, where Xposure runs until February 15. 

“It was strange to see the traffic lines,” said the photographer, alluding to the infamous traffic jams of the bustling megapolis of 20 million inhabitants. The monument to poet Alexander Pushkin - a prominent landmark and “the soul of Moscow”, also stood in complete emptiness. Every day he walked around 15 to 20 kilometres and clicked 2,500 shots in all to get images of buildings, parks, monuments, road junctions, and more.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning freelance photographer, who has covered wars, revolutions, and natural disasters across the globe, added that it was a miracle he was in his hometown of Moscow when the coronavirus pandemic broke out around the world.

The footballer-turned-lensman reminisced that “during the first pandemic lockdown, journalists in Moscow could move freely without restriction, and most photographers went to hospitals and other frontline areas where the fight for life was visible, but I decided to take a different path.”

For his project, Ponomarev chose to work on architectural images in black and white where one could see monuments interacting with each other. “I am a visual person, and I experienced my hometown in a new way every day, and that was a fantastic feeling,” he said.

Ponomarev transformed the images into a series of panoramas, which went against the norm of taking verticals for smartphone and social network compatibility.

“The project also helped me overcome fear – the fear of infection, fear for my loved ones and the fear that nothing will be the same. The pandemic exposed the puncture points of humanity and forced a rethink of our values,” Ponomarev stated.