Apt Number

I moved from a provincial city to Saint Petersburg to make a change in my life, and a block of monotonous high-rises on the outskirts was something of a new experience. After living there for several years, I began to feel pressured by the environment. Identical brown-beige high-rises, an apartment in sandy shades, yellow curtains, a coffee-colored kitchen set and a sickly peach sofa: all these things were about to become the norm.

Throughout the process, I realized that barriers aren’t just walls and houses. Life in a “sleeping district” reminded me of the atmosphere of a small town. I noticed that, for a long time now, I’ve been unwittingly living someone else’s idea of life. The past continues to exist, subjugating the present.

In this project, I’m trying to overcome the imposed thinking patterns no matter the source: society, family, state.

Karina Fomina is a Russian photographer whose work has been shortlisted for the Riga Photomonth projection this year.