Born in the Soviet Union and raised in Germany, I developed an ambivalent connection to my homeland. To explore this cultural tension, I travelled 2018 & 2020 to Kazan – a city full of contrasts and possibilities, where Russian culture, Tatar tradition and modernity coexist peacefully. Yet beneath the surface of a city on the move, dividing lines become visible in everyday life: They run between a Soviet-socialized generation and a youth culturally oriented towards the West. Between classical gender roles and the desire for emancipation. Between material status and artistic self-realization.
Arthur Bauer, born in Kazakhstan in 1983, immigrated to Germany in 1991. After studying political science, sociology, and psychology at the University of Mannheim, he has been working in the field of photography and film. As a social scientist, he is interested in how context affects people and how people shape their environment. Photography encapsulates this relationship, providing a glimpse into the world of thoughts and emotions. For him, photographs are like frames from a cinematic scene that inevitably make you wonder what just happened or what will happen next.
