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.

"Ironweed", St Petersburg, October 1993

The ground of Russia does seem to produce an abundance of metal forms. I even wrote a song about them, wondering what they will grow into - lampposts, for example?

Docks, St Petersburg, February 1993

Judging by their clothing, it was well below freezing, as typical for this time of year.

Daghestani sailors, St Petersburg, April 1993

Daghestan is a mountainous republic on Chechnya's eastern border, a small province with about 40 of the 50 languages of the Caucasus. The name of the ship looks like a pun on the phrase "We are searching".

Cleaning, St Peter and Paul Fortress, St Petersburg, 1993

Here I was using the compositional Rule of Thirds (roughly) to place the man, also allowing the strongest lines to lead the viewer to him. All three primary colours are present, and his small amount of bright red draws the eye in too.

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.

Conscript, St Petersburg, May 1993

I don't know military uniform details, but he looks young and shy enough just to have started. Another shot which only required the subject not to move from where and how I found him.

Aleksandr Nevskiy Square Metro Station, St Petersburg, June 1993

Centuries before St Petersburg existed (it was begun in 1703), an important battle between th Russians led by Aleksandr Nevskiy and the Teutons was fought here, and won by the former. This mosaic commemorates the event.

Lenin's Choice, St Petersburg, June 1993

I don't know how long this billboard was allowed to remain - not just that at a certain angle, Lenin was pointing to Coca Cola, but that he would be endorsing WHATEVER was advertised there. I took advantage, though: setting up my tripod at the required angle, and waiting with a slow shutter speed for a red Lada car to come through and blur itself into an echo of the Coke logo.

Neva R., St Petersburg, January 1993

Part of the Leningrad Blockade memorial event is the lighting of these huge torches.

St Peter and Paul Fortress, St Petersburg, Russia, January 1993

Every January there is a memorial day for the 900-day WWII German Blockade of Leningrad, as St P was known for most of its communist years. Up to a million people died in the city, but it didn't surrender (or wasn't allowed to). This is the only regular fireworks event which happens when the night is dark, i.e. in winter; the others have disappointingly light "White Nights" skies.

The general technique for shooting fireworks at night requires a tripod and an open shutter. Keep a piece of black card over the open shutter between bursts of fireworks, and snatch it away when you want to record them. Expose as many as you want on a single frame, being aware that exposure is affected by this. It calls for some experimentation.

Nevskiy Prospekt, St Petersburg, April 1993

A bridge over one of the many canals in the "Venice of the North".

Kanal Griboyedova, St Petersburg, June 1992

A bemused gryphon watches over some lost tourists in the city centre.

Ice fishing on the Neva River, St Petersburg, Russia, January 1993

They used to build winter trams across the river, in the 19th century. Can't do that anymore, I think, but it'll still hold people in mid-winter. Left, the Hermitage; moving right, the Admiralty, followed by St. Isaac's Cathedral dominating. Magical city - but you can't feel the cold, which was likely -20 C.

Kazan Cathedral, St Petersburg, Russia, April 1993

Living in St P from 1992-99 was a real adventure. A beautiful city, but the weather was typical of a far northern swamp. Countless visits to the Hermitage. Footsteps of Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment". Architecture to dwarf the soul and then exalt it. Beyond that, soul-destroying concrete jungle, only the interiors of apartments betraying their inhabitants' personalities. I loved it and was prepared to stay for much more than the 7 years I had - but all the time the Caucasus was pulling my attention south as well.