First the dancers from the Bolshoi, then the veterans
Pit Buehler photographed Russian veterans in Moscow, NZZ, Zug Kultur 13.07.2015 | Text; Susanne Holz, Pictures; PIt Buehler
Zug - Pit Bühler from Baar has been working as a freelance photographer for several years. His passion for photography has already taken the business economics graduate to more than 90 countries. The 42-year-old's particular interest is portrait photography. His most recent destination abroad was Moscow.
Revived tradition
The Baar native traveled to the Russian capital at the beginning of May to photograph the dancers of the Bolshoi Theater. However, Pit Bühler knew that Victory Day would be celebrated on 9 May: «I happened to be in Moscow around this time in 2014. A good friend told me that the Victory Parade was the most important holiday for Russia before the opening. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the division of the Soviet Union, the tradition was abandoned.»
Putin has now revived Victory Day. This has been met with criticism. Russian historian Alexei Miller notes: «In the 1990s, Russians generally regarded empires as the epitome of evil; today, conversely, the Russian imperial state is being sacralized.» Pit Bühler reports on his impression on May 9 in Moscow: «I didn't see the parade, as a photographer I was only accredited for the Bolshoi Theater. But many veterans came there to celebrate after the parade. I approached them spontaneously and enjoyed taking portraits of these people. They were friendly and open.»
Awake and clever
The photographer was fascinated: «Old songs were sung everywhere in the streets, stories were told and people were in a festive mood.» Of course, there were also «hardcore military people» on this occasion - «you don't have to kid yourself». The atmosphere was patriotic, but also cheerful. «There was laughter and jokes were made.» He photographed veterans born between 1925 and 1946. «In certain regions, you join the military because there's nothing else to do.»
Pit Bühler photographed individual veterans with a serious look, veterans with their grandchildren or even husband and wife, adorned with medals, sitting together on a bench and smiling at each other. «It was interesting to talk to these people, they were much more awake and bright than narrow-minded and yesterday's news.»
