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Of Gorbachev, Louis Vuitton, and Litvinenko

Posted in Gorbachev, Liebovitz, Litvinenko, Louis Vuitton, New Times, photography on November 6, 2007 by accidentalrussophile

Some rumors started circulating among a few blogs several days ago, regarding a hidden message in Gorbachev’s photo sessions with Annie Liebovitz, used as advertising for Louis Vuitton. In the images, Gorbachev is passing some remaining portion of the Berlin Wall while riding in a limosine with a Louis Vuitton bag.

It seems some sharp-eyed individual took a closer look at the magazines that Gorbachev is carrying in his Louis Vuitton bag. The New York Times and a few other newspapers picked up on it yesterday, calling it “subversive text.”

And lo and behold, what did their wondering eyes see? Perhaps a secret message?

The headline on the magazine says (approximately) in Russian: “Litvinenko’s murder: They wanted to give up the suspect for $7,000.” Was it some secret message being passed from Gorbachev to the Western world? What information did he know and why was it in the Louis Vuitton images?

Alas – it turns out to be all quite ordinary. It seems that Miss Liebovitz just purchased some magazines to fill the bag from some local store. At the time of the photo shoot, the Litvinenko murder was still making headlines. The Guardian Unlimited reports that the issue in question is simply the May 28 edition of New Times. The New Times article alleges that its reporters were approached by Russian secret agents offering to give them the location of Andrei Lugovoi in exchange for $7,000.

So, unfortunately, a possibly juicy tidbit turns out to be just a dead-end. However, given the location of the bag and magazine, you might have thought that Gorbachev would notice the headline and shuffle the magazines for something else to be in the image. Then again, he might not have even known how much of the bag or the magazine might be revealed in the final photos.
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A Few Blogs of Interest

Posted in Russia, blogs, photography, spy on September 19, 2007 by accidentalrussophile

I’ve recently been expanding my blogroll, trying to include some not only russo-centric blogs but other topics and writing that I find interesting. I have a few moments this morning, so I’ve decided to provide some links to some of the most interesting.

First up is Trey Ratcliff’s Stuck in Customs photography/travel blog. Most of Trey’s images appear to be HDR, as well as (I presume) some other processes which provide a painting-like effect.

Trey is also the owner/founder of John Galt Games, a video gaming company. I’m not sure what Ayn Rand has to do with video games, but hey – that’s his business.

Next up is Dr. R. J. Hillhouse’s The Spy Who Billed Me blog (subtitled “Outsourcing the War on Terror”). From Dr. Hillhouse’s glowing mini-autobiography:

The Wall Street Journal has called RJ Hillhouse’s life “exotic” and The New York Times found her writing “equally daring.” Hillhouse has run Cuban rum between East and West Berlin, smuggled jewels from the Soviet Union and slipped through some of the world’s tightest borders. From Uzbekistan to Romania, she’s been followed, held at gunpoint and interrogated. Foreign governments, among others, have solicited her for recruitment as a spy. (They failed.) The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote that “she’s truly like James Bond and Indiana Jones all rolled into one.”

A former professor and Fulbright fellow, Hillhouse is fluent in several languages. She studied in Central and Eastern Europe for over six years at various institutions including Moscow State University, Moscow Finance Institute, Humboldt University of Berlin, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen (Germany) and Babes-Bolyai University (Cluj, Romania). She eared her undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis and her MA in Russian and East European Studies as well as her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan. She has published in major academic journals and has lectured at major institutions including Harvard, Stanford and the Smithsonian.

Her widely-acclaimed debut novel, Rift Zone, was selected as one of the best books of 2004 by the American Booksellers Association. Her next novel, Outsourced, is about the turf wars between the CIA and the Pentagon and the privatization of military and espionage. It will be published by Forge books in May 2007.

For Russian topics, we also have the rather intellectual (although apparently anonymous) Russian Film Blog. Along with that, I should point out the Russian Movie Database, which I list under Russian Items of Interest. It is simply an excellent resource for locating and purchasing Russian films.

Among personal blogs, I’ve included Swedish student/bombshell (her words) Josefina’s A Russia of My Own blog (“Ambition mixed with vodka gets me up in the morning“). Josefina exhibits a stream-of-conciousness writing style in a fashion only a philology student could employ when discussing her exploits and worries while living and studying in Ekaterinburg .

Lastly, the very well-written and interesting Moscow Through Brown Eyes blog by Buster PH.D Candidate. Inciteful and political, while observing the Moscow scene, I find this blog a very worthwhile stop.

This reminds me – I am curious how others keep track of their favorite blogs online. I’ve been using some combination of My Yahoo and Technorati to stay on top of various blogs and feeds, with mixed results. If someone has a suggestion for a great RSS reader or other method to stay on top of topics from their favorite blogs, I’m all ears.
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Picture Says 1,000 Words

Posted in Putin, editors, photography, satire on September 12, 2007 by accidentalrussophile

“Hmmm … I think this photo isn’t quite sinister enough. It needs something …”

“Hey, how about this, boss?”
“Not bad, but too subtle. Too many people in the U.S. don’t know who Hitler is anymore.”

“Oh, ya, now you’re getting there – very sinister, just the impression we need with this piece. Maybe you can pump it up a bit more?”

“Great! Now THIS is a photo we can use to demonstrate how EVIL Putin is, by accepting his prime minister’s resignation!”

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BLDGBLOG Interview with Michael Cook

Posted in Tunnels, photography, urban landscape on August 27, 2007 by accidentalrussophile

This post isn’t about Russia at all, but it does connect with a previous posting that I had on Russos and his livejournal of Moscow subsurface photography. (By the way, Russos currently has some nice images from MAKS 2007 on LJ.)

Geoff Manaugh of Bldg Blog has an interview with Michael Cook, “writer, photographer, and urban explorer based in Toronto”. Should make for an interesting read for anyone interested in subsurface structures, urban environments and their impact on nature, engineering, architecture, and photography.

I should note that this type of subsurface exploration is much more risky than might appear. Every year during our mandated annual 8-hour OSHA HAZWOPER refresher we hear stories about confined space entry scenarios that went horribly wrong. Often, such areas are not well-ventilated, meaning oxygen levels are not dependable (there is a relatively narrow range of oxygen levels that are considered suitable for breathing and maintaining conciousness). Also, noxious fumes from the urban and industrial environment can build up in such low lying areas. Remember canaries in a coal mine? Generally it is a good idea to have vapor meters and/or oxygen meters with some sort of back-up breathing source if you plan to go exploring the urban environment.

P.S. I’m getting a fair number of hits on my Russos posting due to my comments on BLDG BLOG, so I’ve updated that article with additional links to Russos images on his blog. I realize that many of the normal BLDG BLOG readers probably don’t read Russian, so I tried to simplify their search of his images on his blog.
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Московский Метрополитен – Another View of the Moscow Metropolitan

Posted in Metro, Moscow, Russos, Underground, construction, photography on June 29, 2006 by accidentalrussophile

Московский Метрополитен

I am sure many readers are familiar with the wonderful Bee Flower’s Moscow Metro photography. Those images present a very utopian version of the Moscow Metro. Let’s not kid ourselves, it isn’t a Metro that you will ever actually see yourself – the experience of the Metro is still very interesting and worthwhile, but it isn’t the sterile and perfect image presented by Bee.

Some time ago, I stumbled upon another view of the Moscow Metropolitan. Maybe many Russian readers have already visited this behind-the-scenes view of the Metro. And perhaps it is a view that only a civil engineer could find interesting. None the less, I thought it was worth sharing. The livejournal blogger Russos (and friends, apparently) find ways to make photographs of tunnels under construction or behind the scenes. He makes a point to say that he won’t answer questions about where his images are made, or what they specifically might show. He also adds that he doesn’t have problems with the police (and he won’t explain why) – but he does have problems with passengers who stick their nose into his business.