Photo: Dasha Yastrebova, Dancers in costume, 2007. Courtesy the artist
Photo: Dasha Yastrebova, Masha Galaxy, trash-character and performer, the star of all parties, and a legend in Moscow, 2007. Courtesy the artist
In 2007, when the Solyanka Club opened in Moscow, it was a time of great hope. The first generation of post-Soviet teenagers came of age in a moment when anything seemed possible, mostly because the government was willing to overlook many social and cultural activities. Solyanka, a restaurant during the day and a nightclub after dark, burst forth. It quickly became the home for an underground, bohemian community of artists, photographers, designers, musicians, performers, and filmmakers who embraced those whom the Russian government persecuted, specifically queer culture, drag queens, and people who identified as transgender. Even then, Solyanka was an island of tolerance in a country plagued by prejudice and persecution.
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At the age of eighteen, while shooting for magazines like Russian Vogue, Dasha Yastrebova started going to Solyanka. She photographed there for a year, and most of this work has never been seen before. Here, Yastrebova speaks about this intriguing moment in Russian history, a period of personal and creative freedom that has since disappeared.
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Photo: Dasha Yastrebova, Stylist Natasha Sych, 2007. Courtesy the artist.