Ksenia Galiaeva has my number. Her photos, many of which were taken in her home village, Pskov, Russia, are full of exhuberant scenes and characters: a man ambles around in a speedo; an old couple works on a couch amid a jumble of dishes and things; others garden outdoors amid buckets and bursting plants; and a little Dachshund tromps his way into most of the photos, cuddled inside someone's shirt, settled on the back of a gardener, or just keeping guard from a porch. Everything is bright, and alive, and it all makes me want to see more, to know more about this little community. The scenes feel reminiscent of the film Black Cat, White Cat, one of my favorites.Ksenia has just put out a book of photos, and it is available here.
