Nationalist demonstration, Palace Square, St Petersburg, May 1993

Held on the site of the original October [Socialist] Revolution of 1917, this fairly extreme demonstration was, as I recall, a portent of the increasing nationalism and anti-non-Russian feeling which have tended to characterise Russia since the USSR broke up.

Palace Square, St Petersburg, 7 November 1992

The date and location are significant: The 75th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution (old calendar). This was their last big rally. I was showing some guests around, and they understood that I had to leave them for a bit to find a location from which to photograph. Some minutes later they saw me standing on top of a minivan! Seeing other reporters doing this gave me boldness to clamber up, needing height as usual in the crowd. I only wish my friends could have got a picture of me up there. Snow was swirling down in big flakes and I had to change film in the middle of it. But I got what I was after.