As promised, the next day it started raining heavily from early morning. I still went for a walk with an umbrella and took a photo of either a lodia or a drakkar, displayed as a decoration on one of the streets in the town center. The coat of arms of Kasimov depicts the skeleton of an unfinished lodia at the shipyard. Lodia it is Slavic version of the Scandinavian drakkar ship.
After lunch the rain stopped and I went for a walk again, aimlessly, expecting nothing from this day. It seemed like I had already seen everything I could. Suddenly one of my expedition mates – Ksenia, suggested going to one of the villages. A local resident Alena volunteered to give us a ride. She grew up in the Lashmа village near Kasimov. Alena lived in Moscow for some time, but then returned to her native places, which she loves and where she returned with joy.
Before the expedition, I learned that was a steel mill (expectedly closed) not far from the village, and suggested that we also go there. Having miscalculated the number of passengers, we set off to Lashma with six of us (!) in one car (a poor Renault Duster). But, as the saying goes, crowded, but not outraged.
The picturesque village has preserved many beautiful wooden houses. One of them has traces of the gangster war of the 90s. The goal of this conflict was to seize another plant, literally a golden one – Prioksky Plant of Non-Ferrous Metals.
When we got to the less fortunate steel mill, we saw the process of its demolition, or rather the final stage. All that remains from the steel mill was a chimney, two parts of the facades of the workshop walls and a single, very expressive gate leaf.
A pile of non-ferrous metals in the middle of this lunar landscape seemed to us an allusion to Vereshchagin’s painting «The Apotheosis of War».
It was getting close to sunset and the time to view our photos and have dinner. So, we quickly drove back to Kasimov.
The next day was departure day: there was time for walks only until lunch. I had planned to take pictures at the earliest dawn and in the dark, but I was unable to do so until the last morning. And so, having gathered my strength, I went out into the town at 3 AM.
The completely deserted streets were illuminated at night only on the central street. But it was very beautiful. Throughout the early morning, I only encountered taxi drivers, who drove past me three times, mistaking me for a tired traveler. But when they saw the camera and tripod in my hands, they left dissatisfied. I saw their faces through the windshields of cars.
The first thing I did was return to the Kasimov «forum». It was there, upon arrival, that my acquaintance with the town began. I wanted to photograph unused buildings in a deserted setting with no cars in the background. I also tried to illuminate them with a flashlight, creating at least the illusion of their being alive. This was all necessary for my future photo project.
Dawn was approaching inexorably, and I quickly walked to the Barkov’s house —that same burnt-out house with columns.
But since the sun had already illuminated part of the sky, I was unable to photograph everything I had planned. I decided to return to the hotel, taking pictures of the morning city along the way.
I didn’t want to give up so easily and just wait for departure. I loaded slide film into a camera and decided to photograph a more postcard-like view of Kasimov. So that I could later view the slides I had taken on a projector on winter evenings. Ksenia kept me company and we managed to stroll around the town on our last adventure before leaving.
Kodak Ektachrome E100D
So, without further ado, our photo expedition to Kasimov has come to an end. This is a unique sanctuary land, where two cultures coexist and one can feel how life goes on as usual, and people remain true to themselves and their place.
