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Lost Time: Wild Photos of Russia's Punks

Russian rock in the ‘80s was an underground movement. When news was spoon-fed through two state-sponsored weekly TV and radio shows and art was vetted to conform with government standards, some people found that the best way to express their individuality was through punk. 1986. Igor Mukhin
Musician, singer, soloist of the group Auktsion, Oleg Garkusha was a symbol of the St. Petersburg underground. Leningrad, 1986. Igor Mukhin
Punk was a fierce movement—but it wasn't a large one. Just like today, many in the ‘80s gravitated toward pop music which was easier to access and consume. 1987. Igor Mukhin
The musicians dubbed new Western releases with Russian lyrics; only a small audience dared to listen to these songs of protest. 1985. Igor Mukhin
Punk musicians faced no special challenges. Well, except censorship and “getting a real jail term for a little Nabokov tome in your coat pocket.” 1987. Igor Mukhin
Now, it’s hard to think about censorship in the same way. In the ‘80s everything in Russia was regulated. The concept of samizdat—he production and distribution of state-banned literature by hand—was born out of the desire for free expression. 1987. Igor Mukhin
It wasn’t just music; poetry, literature, and fashion were all traded underground. It was the ideas behind books and clothing that the government feared and tried to suppress. 1989. Igor Mukhin
How do we remember Russia’s affair with punk in the ‘80s? “It was a fairly short period of time—with revolutionary changes.” 1988. Igor Mukhin

The photo project "I've seen rock-n-roll" captures the colorful personalities that made up Russia's underground music scene in the 1980s.

Igor Mukhin is a Soviet and Russian photographer who has participated in more than 150 personal and group exhibitions in Russia and abroad. His photographs are featured in leading museums around the world.

The Moscow Times asked Mukhin to tell us the story behind his colorful photos from a decade of political oppression.


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