In late 2022, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine dragged on, President Vladimir Putin signed new legislation cracking down on LGBTQ communities. Almost ten years earlier, Russia had enacted a federal law that prohibited the promotion of ''non-traditional sexual values''-seen as Western values-to anyone under the age of eighteen. Known by many as the ''gay propaganda law,'' it has been used to silence any public discussion or positive messaging about LGBTQ issues in any place or format accessible to minors, including the media and online. The new legislation expands on the 2013 law to cover all ages and all media, causing many to fear for a new wave of homophobic violence.
In Ordinary People, Ksenia Kuleshova, a rising star in the world of photography, has taken a series of intimate portraits, accompanied by short interviews of LGBTQ Russians who, despite the relentless homophobia from politicians, religious leaders, and the media, remain open about their sexuality and seek happiness and joy in their everyday lives.
In Ordinary People, Kuleshova also looks beyond Russia's borders to people in the former Soviet states of Armenia and Georgia, who have taken their lead from Russia's homophobic policies. Powerful and intimate, Ordinary People is a moving and ultimately joyful testament to the survival and resilience of the LGBTQ community in one of the most oppressive countries in the world.
The seventeenth entry in The New Press's worldwide LGBTQ photobook series, Ordinary People is an arresting collection of full-color photos in a beautiful, affordable volume. It provides a portrait of young people navigating the ambiguities of friendship and sexuality as they enter adulthood and struggle with what it means to be queer in modern-day Russia and former Soviet states Armenia and Georgia.
Jekaterinburg, February 2022. Valery works at the Yeltsin Center. During a visit to a gynecologist, when Valery mentioned that she is asexual, the doctor responded, “Why did you come then?” and refused to conduct an examination. © Ksenia Kuleshova
JKrasnogor, November 2021. Alyona , (left) and Nael are a transgender couple.© Ksenia Kuleshova
Saint Petersburg, August 2018. Nikolay, a drag performer known as Vanessa Shy, in the changing room of the gay club Central Station SPB before her performance. © Ksenia Kuleshova
is a documentary photographer based in Germany and Belgium. She has been featured in the British Journal of Photography as one of thirty-one women to watch (2018), as one of twenty rising women photojournalists by Artsy (2019), and as one of The 30: New and Emerging Photographers to Watch (2022). Her work has appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, Die Zeit, and Focus and she is the author of Ordinary People (The New Press). For more information, visit: .
The photobook series is the result of a unique collaboration between the Arcus Foundation, Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios (EWS), and The New Press. Ordinary People was designed by Emerson, Wajdowicz Studios.
August 2018. Maria (Мария) (left) and Anastasia (Анастасия) in Maria’s apartment in Saint Petersburg. They have been together for seven months and are planning to move in together soon. Maria is a photographer specializing in portraits, erotica, and nude photography. Anastasia is from Saratov, Russia, and is a choreographer, dancer, and actor in the show Faceless.© Ksenia Kuleshova
