Valya poses with a World War II-era gun near Lake Semyonovskoye in Murmansk. The picture is not staged: I was photographing reenactors with weapons when Valya and his father, who are winter swimmers, happened to pass by on their way to swim in the lake. His father asked if he could take a photo of his son with the gun on his mobile phone. I photographed him as well. Valya dreams of enrolling in a military school to become a paratrooper, inspired by his favorite YouTube singer, who once served in the airborne forces. ©Tanya Sharapova

Kolsky, 2019 – 2024

Tanya Sharapova

2019 – 2024 — Kola Peninsula, Russia

About this series

I was a passenger on a local bus driving through the middle of a blizzard when it slid off the road into a snowy ditch. Instead of calling for help, the driver announced: “Anyone who wants to reach their destination is welcome to get out and push the bus.” This became one of my first impressions of Kolsky, where I photographed for the following five years. At that time, Kolsky felt like the edge of the world. Russian travel agencies promoted it as a winter wonderland near the Arctic Circle, attracting tourists who came to chase the Northern Lights.
Kolsky, or the Kola Peninsula as it is formally known, borders the NATO countries, Finland and Norway and is home to Russia’s Northern Fleet – the central hub of nuclear submarines and related strategic infrastructure. For Russia, the region is not only militarily significant, but also a gateway to the Arctic, where fishing, oil, gas, and mineral extraction play a crucial role in the national economy. Since the Soviet era, nuclear submarines have been stationed here, taking advantage of ice-free access to the Atlantic.
At first, the daily rhythm of life seemed ordinary, almost untouched by the broader political climate. But the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 revealed a deeper reality.
It became clear how extensively militarism and authoritarianism had infiltrated everyday life: from patriotic slogans in classrooms to subtle forms of censorship in private conversations. The war also exposed how completely many Russians exist within a sealed information environment, with few alternatives to the official narrative. This system fosters passivity and misinformation, leaving many convinced that the so-called “special military operation” is justified and shaping a distorted understanding of the war and its consequences.
As the propaganda machine intensified, people became afraid of anything beyond
official rules and permissions. Those who once spoke to me freely refused to be photographed, saying only, “It’s better not to.” Others repeated television slogans. This documentary project attempts to capture this shift in mindset within Russian society, using the transformation of one region as a mirror. It explores how, through a combination of strategic propaganda, social pressure, and persuasive messaging, one of Russia’s deepest collective fears -“the main thing is to avoid war” – was reshaped into its opposite: a new national slogan, “We can do it again.”

A hand tattooed with the name “Vova” (short for Vladimir) holds a pigeon near a dovecote in Murmansk. The man, who keeps 40 birds, considers selling some as rising feed costs—16 euros a month—have become too much to manage. ©Tanya Sharapova
Nikita sits in his apartment in Zapolyarny, which is located 15 kilometers from the Norwegian border. He helped Ukrainians fleeing filtration camps reach the border crossing into Norway, where they continued on to Kirkenes, their first safe stop in Europe. After some time, he had to leave his hometown due to pressure from local authorities. ©Tanya Sharapova
Sasha and Vlad wear VR glasses near the Fun Club in Zapolyarny. They used to spend most of their time playing video games there; their favorite was a rhythm-based shooter where players fired weapons in sync with music. ©Tanya Sharapova
The doors of an abandoned Christian church remain shut in Teriberka. On September 25, 2022, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill Gundyaev, stated that a deceased person who sacrifices himself ‘in the line of military duty’ allegedly ‘washes away all the sins that a person has committed.’ A new chapel was built nearby in 2013, just before the first invasion of Ukraine. ©Tanya Sharapova
Shamil sits on the balcony of his apartment in Murmansk. A graduate of the Murmansk Marine Fishing College, he abandoned maritime work after experiencing hazing and mistreatment on board. ©Tanya Sharapova
A patched blanket hangs to dry in the yard of an apartment building in Murmansk, Russia, September 2020. The city is the capital of the Murmansk region, located above the Arctic Circle. ©Tanya Sharapova
Denis openly speaks out against the war in Ukraine. Part of his family still lives near Odessa. Denis quit his job as an auto mechanic and switched to freelance work to avoid authorities handing him mobilization papers in person. ©Tanya Sharapova
Graffiti of the pro-war symbols “Z” and “V” covers the walls of a former military-rented apartment in Nikel, Russia, March 2023. The letters have become identifiers of Russian military aggression during the war in Ukraine; ©Tanya Sharapova
Whale bones lie scattered along the shore of the Barents Sea in Teriberka. Some of the bones were naturally washed ashore, and local residents have placed them along walking paths. ©Tanya Sharapova

Photographer: Tanya Sharapova
Nationality: Russian
Based in: Berlin, Germany
Website: www.tanyasharapova.com
Instagram: @tanya_sharap0va

Tanya Sharapova is a Russian-born documentary photographer and visual artist based in Berlin. Her work explores the relationship between individuals and political structures — belonging, displacement, collective memory, and life in contested or transitional spaces, particularly in post-Soviet and European contexts. Drawing on archival materials and personal research alongside photography, she examines how historical rupture and political change shape everyday life.
She has a background in publishing and photo editing, and worked as a travel photographer and writer for publications including National Geographic Russia and Condé Nast Traveler Russia.
From 2021 to 2024, she studied at the Ostkreuz School of Photography in Berlin in Irina Ruppert’s class, graduating with her long-term documentary project Kolsky, supported by VG Bild-Kunst / Kulturwerk Foundation and Innovate Grants.