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Intimate Portraits Capture Life Inside Moscow's Dorms

Intimate Portraits Capture Life Inside Russian Dorms
By 

Senior World News Reporter, HuffPost

Photographer Pascal Dumont traveled across Moscow to capture intimate portraits of student life in the Russian capital.

Published in the Moscow Times, the series "Dorm Life of Moscow's Students" puts the familiar cheap utility of college dorms on display. The rooms Dumont visited are occupied by young students from Russia and abroad. They told the photographer of life within the facilities, from the strict curfews to their favorite places to sneak a smoke. "Many said that while communal life is hard as space is limited, social life is great and costs are cheap," Dumont writes on his website.

But while the peeling paint and friendly faces of the residences give the images a feel analogous to western colleges, complaints of flammable exposed wiring and roaches offer a window into the unique challenges for some students in the city.

Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
Kudakwashe Ndlova, a 25-year-old student from Zimbabwe, drinking tea in a room he shares with a Russian student.
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
Nigerian students Christopher Onoja (top), 22, and Issac Ismaila (bottom), 24, both came to Russia on a scholarship. “Honestly, I don’t like anything about this place because the rooms are full of roaches and bed bugs. We renovated— the lighting, the wallpaper, everything — but it was a mess when we arrived,” Onojasaid.
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
Issac Ismaila, a student from Nigeria, between the two stoves of the floor’s communal kitchen.
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
Kudakwashe Ndlovu said that water sometimes leaked from the ceiling and that the electric wiring couldcatch fire at any moment.
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
Yang Zhao, 25, a psychology major from Beijing, encountered her fair share of xenophobic landlords. "I don't like the obshezhitiye, but I don't think I have another option,” Yang said. “It is pretty difficult to rent a room in Moscow. I made phone calls for two months and when someone would hear my accent and discover I was Chinese, they would say nyet!”
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
Common obshaga chores include washing windows, floors, walls, kitchens and bathrooms.
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
Not all dormitories are equipped with washing machines. Most students wash their laundry manually
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
Dinara Vafina, a music student at the Moscow State Pedagogical University, practicing the piano for her next exam.
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
Elena Gasyukova, a 24-year old student at the Higher School of Economics, is looking at a sign in the elevator that says, "The general cleaning days on Saturday and Sunday."
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
Most of the time the kitchen is shared by the whole floor.
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
Yulia Mishina, a student from Barnaul, Siberia, working at her desk in her room.
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
According to Elena, who lives in a dormitory belonging to the Higher School of Economics, attendants check in on students every night at 9 pm. “They ask how you are, if your flat is dirty, they tell you what to clean,” she said. “If [the attendant] doesn’t see me for a while, she will make note of it and report it to my parents.”
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
The entrance of the Moscow State Academic Art Institute's dormitory.
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
24-year-old Zalkar Toktogulov from Kyrgyzstan, who studies painting, training in the gym. "Life here is good, I go to the gym almost everyday to stay in shape, but I'm not a professional boxer," he said.
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
"The 12th floor is the best for smoking," says Inese, who just arrived from Latvia.
Pascal Dumont / The Moscow Times
Inese Manguse, 24, playing guitar.

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