Dispatches D3: On Russia

On Russia prods deftly at the Russian psyche. Commissioned for their insider knowledge of the subject, dispatches contributors lay bare the contradictory soul that makes up modern Russia. Putin's hold on power; the strongmen who control the oil and the nation's businesses; a disenchanted and disavowed youth; the new KGB pumped up and decked in black under its new guise of the FSB all echo the disposition of a nation which, despite the applause for Yeltsin s antics on top of a tank nearly 20 years ago, has struggled to take to its heart the principles of democracy. A photo essay put together by curators from FotoDepartament spans 150 years of Russian portraiture, while Seamus Murphy travels across the Far Eastern reaches of the country and its border with China.