Structures

The issue of police brutality is actively discussed in Russia. Some cases are striking in their cruelty and are covered in independent media, but most of the crimes and abuse of police powers against citizens remain unpunished. These are small and inconspicuous actions: slaps against detainees, depriving them of the opportunity to sleep and use toilets. This level of violence is invisible and no one will ever sue. I think such trifles and their perception as something unimportant develops a punitive system. To show the lowest levels of power and violence, I decided to make photo shoots at the level of fibers, threads and fabric. I took policeman’s uniform and everyday tools (clothes, boots, baton, handcuffs, helmet and others) and photographed them under an industrial microscope designed for materials science.  Threads, scratches, traces, details of handcuffs, magnified from 14 to 500 times, look like strange sullen landscapes. Using a microscope instead of a normal camera is a gesture, calling to consider the problem of violence not only at the level of resonant cases, but also at the level of small actions and thoughts that are usually not visible but create the system of violence in general.

The project with text of Andrey Yakovlev was published in February 2018 by Meduza.io