New York – The Empire State Building in Manhattan.
Moscow – The Stalinist-era Ministry of Foreign Affairs tower, one of the Seven Sisters buildings.
Credit: Artur Bondar
The first time I came to New York, I was not shocked by its grand views of buildings, streets and stylish looking people. I found everything quite usual. I walked through the blocks of buildings, rode the subway and took taxis as I had done hundred times before in other cities. I was not paying attention to this until I looked out of the window and saw the city panorama and I had the feeling that I have been here or lived here before: at the same room on the 16th floor on Fifth Avenue in New York. I had the same feeling several more times in the next two months. I was scared and captivated at the same time. I started taking photos of the city. I made only vertical shots as a microscopic cut of New York reality, where skyscrapers look up to the sky.
New York – A reflection in the windows of buildings on Broadway.
Moscow – A white cloth placed on the lawns at Patriarch Ponds.
Credit: Artur Bondar
Four months later I moved to Moscow where I had the same feeling. I had never been here, but I had this feeling that I was walking the same streets and was going to the same buildings and cafes where I had already been. I met the same people and we had discussions on the same topics. I continued making vertical shots, while my mind found resemblances in place and time.
New York – The New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street.
Moscow – A Soviet sculpture at the MUZEON Park of Arts on the Krymskaya Embankment.
Credit: Artur Bondar
Comparing photographs of these two cities, I gradually begin to find similarities between them. Two megalopolises, situated so far from each other in the scale of the Earth, yet so close in the space of my mind. Vertical sections began to line up in a chain of time and space. They complemented each other and created a link of flashes of memory that permeate my mind again and again.
New York – People relax in Central Park.
Moscow – A man sleeps on the grass at Pushkin Square during a parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of Victory Day.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – A girl on a wooden pier at Coney Island Beach.
Moscow – A girl sits on concrete railings opposite a statue of Peter the Great near the Moscow River.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – A countertop covered in fish and crabs in Chinatown.
Moscow – A countertop with Russian dolls at Izmailovsky Market.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – A man stands in a shark costume during the Mermaid Parade on Coney Island.
Moscow – A gathering of spectators on Bolotnaya Square. Fire performances are often staged here.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – A view of Manhattan at night from Brooklyn.
Moscow – A woman takes shelter from the snow under an umbrella covered in images of skyscrapers.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – Chinatown. People often play dominos and cards on the central square.
Moscow - Visitors at the Moscow Zoo near the parrot aviary.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – A man sits on a plant pot near the entrance to Washington Square Park.
Moscow – A woman sells knickknacks at a flea market outside the Museum of Moscow.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – People enjoy a day at Coney Island Beach.
Moscow – A Muscovite relaxes in the MUZEON Park of Arts on the Krymskaya Embankment.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – A young man checks his phone by the fountain in Washington Square Park.
Moscow – A boy with a Russian flag welcomes a flyover during celebrations commemorating the 70th anniversary of Victory Day.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York - A drawing of the Statue of Liberty on the wall of a building in Little Italy.
Moscow – A drawing of a memorial to Soviet soldiers on the wall of a building near Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – A man climbs on a rock in Central Park.
Moscow – A reproduction of Ivan Shishkin’s famous painting “A Morning in a Pine Forest.”
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – A girl on the subway.
Moscow – An escalator on the Moscow Metro.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – A man washes a Mercedes near the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn Heights.
Moscow - A woman with a cart in front of a wooden model of the Kremlin at Izmailovsky Market.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – A man talks on the phone at Grand Central Station.
Moscow – Passengers wait for the metro to arrive near an image of a Soviet soldier at Taganskaya station.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – A woman with an umbrella walks around the center of the city.
Moscow – A woman stands on a stool selling bus tickets near the exit of Oktyabrskaya metro station.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – A tree trunk surrounded by circles in Central Park.
Moscow – Ski jump at Sparrow Hills.
Credit: Artur Bondar
New York – Fifth Avenue at night.
Moscow – A baptism at Sokolniki Park in Mayskoye Pond.
Credit: Artur Bondar
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