Tag Archives: society

Snapshots of subjectivity

Witnessing a random incident of thuggery in St. Petersburg’s historic centre, Peter Campbell raises the question of how and what we observe, experience, remember and report. When it comes to describing any culture or society, a relationship is always developed between the observer and the observed, making the description as much a reflection of the narrator as it is of…

Russian paradox

The “fasten seatbelts” sign flashed on, signaling our final descent. The clouds that had obscured Europe for the majority of the trip, slid past the aircraft windows and opened up the view to a featureless landscape covered with snow and long shadows thrown off by a sinking sun. I began to feel that familiar sense of anxiety when the wheels…