The Beards of St. Petersburg

Ivan, 26, is a musician from St. Petersburg. He's played in a few bands, but is now is setting up his own. Ivan also runs a YouTube blog called 'Hi Guys,'' where he discusses musical instruments. He plans to expand his channel to cover the growing number of producers of musical instruments in Russia.

Yury, who is in his 60s, describes himself as an economist. He once lived in New York City for about 18 months, but lives in a communal apartment in St. Petersburg's historical center.

This 63-year old Siberian used to mine coal and search for gold. Now a pensioner, he plays music on the streets of St. Petersburg, his dog at his side. He can often be found playing near Starbucks off Nevsky Prospect.

Zhenya, 34, grew up in the northern military town of Sever??dvinsk, but moved to St. Petersburg as "all my friends have moved here." He loves St. Petersburg for its "360 degrees of freedom" compared with his hometown.

Sergei, 26, moved to St. Petersburg a year ago from Ukhta in the Komi Republic. A bodybuilding fanatic with a beard stretches an impressive 25 centimeters, Sergei has his own YouTube channel dedicated to health and beards called "Wow! Bearded Guys."

Ayro, 35, is a systems engineer at a supermarket chain in St. Petersburg. An ethnic Armenian, Aryo began growing his beard and skateboarding after getting a divorce. His 12-year old daughter also enjoy skateboarding.

Alexander, 31, is a software developer. He has been sporting his beard for seven years.

Dmitry, 35, designs and constructs bicycles. He belongs to the St. Petersburg bicycle club Asphalt Pirates. When he is not riding his bicycle, he is driving his retro Volga car.

Arkady, 29 (R), trained as a psychologist education, but now runs an online store selling music instruments. He hopes to return to his educational roots and open a psychology practice. Arkady is a Muscovite, and was visiting St. Petersburg with his girlfriend Anna.