The Soviet Union was nearing its end by the late 1980s. Although it hadn’t collapsed yet, its political and economic systems were showing cracks. Shortages of consumer goods and food and overall poverty spread throughout the member states of the Soviet Union.
Economic problems weighed heavily on human conditions, forcing people to find ways to survive in new realities. Nonetheless, children were still studying and playing, students were partying - in general, people were adopting and life went on, albeit in a different manner.
A few Siberian women sell miscellaneous articles to earn desperately needed money. Their community of coal-mining and steel-manufacturing is suffering from widespread economic hardships.
Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty ImagesRenowned American photographer Peter Turnley captured some of the most intimate moments of the dying Soviet civilization as it was approaching its inevitable end.
Considered an expert of photography specializing in the “realities of the human condition”, Peter Turnley has covered moments of historical significance around the globe for years. He witnessed the Gulf War in 1991, as well as conflicts in the Balkans, Chechnya, Somalia, Afghanistan, Rwanda, South Africa and many others.
Two miners sit in a shower room after their shift. They live in a poor coal-mining and steel-manufacturing town enduring widespread economic hardships.
Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty ImagesIn addition to newsworthy topics of geopolitical significance, Turnley is famous for his street photography. His unique photos of life in the decaying Soviet empire permeate the aura of this time and era.
Some of Turnley’s photos show raw life in the USSR, like this one showing an old at a food market in Moscow.
Food Market in Moscow.
Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty ImagesYet, most of Turnley’s photography produced in the USSR simply depicts the daily life of ordinary citizens who just lived their lives, even while events of historical significance swept throughout their country, changing it forever.
Demonstrators link arms on the Red Square in September 1991 as the Congress of People's Deputies meets in the Kremlin following a coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev.
Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
A woman sells meat.
Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
A man with a cage of doves at an animal market in Moscow.
Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
Siberians Lining up Outside a Store.
Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
Man Pulling Children on a sled.
Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
A group of punks.
Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
Daily life in a village in Russia in 1991.
Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
Demonstrators gathered to protest the August Coup in 1991.
Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
The Cathedral of St. Basil, one of the most striking landmarks of Moscow.
Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty ImagesDear readers,
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