Pecherska Lavra, or the monastery of the caves, sprawls across one Kiev’s many hills. Unfortunately, the day I was there, the caves were not open to tourists. The churches, however, made for great photos, until a stern lady shooed me and my camera out. In general, Orthodox churches are more photogenic than others. Catholics, too, … Continue reading The Monastery of the Caves
Three years ago, a wave of protests against a corrupt government washed across Ukraine. The epicenter of the movement was Kiev’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square. (A good summation of those events can be found on Wikipedia.) When the dust had settled, the president had fled the country and pro-democracy activists had gained the upper … Continue reading The Maidan
Kiev was founded over fifteen hundred years ago, and though it’s grown into a sprawling city of almost three million, many layers of its history are visible around the center of the city. Golden-domed churches are some of the oldest buildings in Kiev, each about a millenium old. Kiev’s Russian imperial past can be seen … Continue reading A Thousand Years Within Walking Distance
For many Americans, any and all former Soviet republics get lumped into a nebulous mass of geographical uncertainty, authoritarianism, and Borat-type culture. Ukraine is a bracing tonic against these stereotypes; a nation whose rich culture belies its relatively brief geopolitical history. The region of what today is called Ukraine has been at a political and … Continue reading The Crossroads of Ukraine
It is an oddly satisfying thought that the total amount of time I’ve spent in abandoned churches as an adult may, by now, have exceeded the time I spent in active ones as a child. From an outing last winter: Continue reading The Sacred and the Profane
On a day when we had other destinations, we were distracted by dramatic fog rolling in from the lake. Good thing, too, because this was the only good shot I got that day. Continue reading Morning Fog Over the Chicago River
The Icelandic countryside can range from the bucolic and pastoral to austere and menacing. Continue reading Landscapes of Iceland
A tense drive on winding gravel roads often hugging steep precipices will eventually bring you to Látrabjarg, Iceland’s westernmost point. The cliffs here are famous here for their birdwatching, but the nearly vertical rock faces themselves are stunning. I’ve made light the theme of this series of photos, but I can’t say that we lucked … Continue reading Látrabjarg Cliffs
It’s hard not to love basalt beaches. The jet-black sand contrasts beautifully with the surf and sky, and it’s a much more poignant setting for the clichéd long walks people love to take along them. If a regular beige beach brings to mind fat tourists sunning themselves, disporting bros and the shrieks of gleeful children, … Continue reading A Beach For Goths
You don’t really go to Iceland for the urbex scene. However, once there, there are a couple spectacular abandonments you’d be hard pressed to find elsewhere. The country’s first steel ship was beached and left as landmark at the tip of a fjord. It gets regular coats of paint, so it isn’t the rusted-out hulk … Continue reading A Glorious Wreck
T A B U L A R A S A photography 