Control Refresh is a long-term photographic project that documents the lives of teenagers in Russia during a period of growing political isolation. Between 2021 and 2023, I traveled through the country, visiting remote towns and small cities, meeting young people whose everyday realities were shaped by the aftermath of the Soviet Union, the rise of social media, and increasingly restrictive state policies.
The project began in 2021, when I initiated a journey across Russia, contacting teenagers via social platforms and spending extended time with them in their homes and communities. The aim was not to create portraits in the traditional sense, but to observe and record their lives — their boredom, their routines, their hopes and anxieties.
In 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the atmosphere in the country shifted. Travel became more difficult. Conversations grew quieter. As the state tightened its grip, I continued visiting my protagonists, returning to some of the same locations, documenting how the political climate slowly filtered into the intimate spaces of young people’s lives.
Control Refresh became not just a photographic series, but a personal archive of a disappearing openness. Through images and stories, it captures how a generation of Russians navigates identity, resistance, and adaptation under the shadow of national isolation.
