These Brutal (Beautiful) Russian Bus Stops Are Unlike Anything You’ve Ever Seen
LifeBuzz I Travel
The Canadian photographer has returned many times to Europe to photograph the abandoned bus stops.
Christopher Herwig made a discovery when he was biking from London, England to St. Petersburg, Russia in 2002. The photographer saw that bus stops in the former Soviet Union were not the standard rectangular shelters we are accustomed in North America. Their bus shelters are stunning art structures. Built during the years of the Iron Curtain, the public art displays can be found in Russia and its former satellite countries like Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, and Kazakhstan, among others. Many of the bus stops along the roadsides have been abandoned. Herwig has taken hundreds and hundred of photos with the hope to preserve these structures he has captured in the 13 countries he has visited. His obsession has turned into a book called, Soviet Bus Stops.
Soviet Busstops
Soviet Busstops
This shelter is designed after a traditional hat worn in Kyrgyzstan.
Soviet Busstops
The structures are everywhere, in urban cities as well as remote areas.
Soviet Busstops
Sochi, Russia.
Soviet Busstops
Viljandimaa, Estonia.
Soviet Busstops
Herwig's discovery turned into an obsession. The shutterbug wanted to photograph every Soviet bus shelter.
Soviet Busstops
The bus stops were not meant to be practical. They were works of art.
Soviet Busstops
The hammer and sickle, a symbolism of the Soviet Union era.
Soviet Busstops
Herwig's passion has turned into a book.
Soviet Busstops
Saratak, Armenia.
Soviet Busstops
Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan.
Soviet Busstops
Polvamaa, Estonia.
Soviet Busstops
The years these countries lived under the Iron Curtain is not a time where creativity was found freely.