Photo © Sarah Blesener
Story - NOMINEE: Sarah Blesener
Toy Soldiers
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Photographed in Dmitrov, Moscow Oblast and Diveevo, Russia - Spring of 2016.
Over 200,000 youth are currently enrolled in clubs with 10,000 in Moscow. Each club functions independently with their own structures and philosophies. In 2015, a proposed program from the Russian government entitled the “Patriotic Education of Russian Citizens in 2016-2020” called for an eight percent increase in patriotic youth within the next ten years, and a ten percent increase in new recruits for the Russian armed forces. This project aims to look at inter-generational war for adolescents in Russia, revolving around non-governmental organizations such as military-patriotic clubs, military sports associations, and patriotic clubs under the Russian Orthodox Church. It is a search for an answer: why are we in love with the whimsy of war?
About author:
Sarah Blesener is a documentary photographer based between New York City and Moscow. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she studied Linguistics and Youth Development at North Central University. While in University, she worked as a photographer for the organization Healing Haiti based in Port au Prince, Haiti, covering events surrounding the 2010 earthquake. She is a recent graduate of the Visual Journalism and Documentary Practice at the International Center of Photography in New York, focusing on politics and youth studies.
Over 200,000 youth are currently enrolled in clubs with 10,000 in Moscow. Each club functions independently with their own structures and philosophies. In 2015, a proposed program from the Russian government entitled the “Patriotic Education of Russian Citizens in 2016-2020” called for an eight percent increase in patriotic youth within the next ten years, and a ten percent increase in new recruits for the Russian armed forces. This project aims to look at inter-generational war for adolescents in Russia, revolving around non-governmental organizations such as military-patriotic clubs, military sports associations, and patriotic clubs under the Russian Orthodox Church. It is a search for an answer: why are we in love with the whimsy of war?
About author:
Sarah Blesener is a documentary photographer based between New York City and Moscow. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she studied Linguistics and Youth Development at North Central University. While in University, she worked as a photographer for the organization Healing Haiti based in Port au Prince, Haiti, covering events surrounding the 2010 earthquake. She is a recent graduate of the Visual Journalism and Documentary Practice at the International Center of Photography in New York, focusing on politics and youth studies.