The Drunken Bride, Russia Unveiled, a
series of photographs captured during
the last three years by Donald Weber,
reveals the enduring tragedy that has
resulted from Stalinist-era corrective
labour camps known as Gulag. At
the time of the Russian Revolution
in 1917, approximately 16 thousand
people lived in Czarist prisons. Two
years later, an estimated 70 thousand
men, women and children had been
sentenced to live in the labour camps
under the Bolsheviks. While estimates
vary, it is said that as many as 40 million
people were absorbed into the
Gulag system before it was abolished
in 1960. Today, many Gulag survivors
and their descendants still maintain a
bleak existence in remote wastelands.

Weber documents the complex
aftermath of the Gulag: the beautiful
forested sites where prisoners were
shot and disposed of; the forgotten,
aging survivors who continue a daily
struggle for survival; the network of
prisoners, known as Zeks, that flaunt
elaborate tattoos whose symbology
dates back to the early 19th century.

Originally from Toronto, Donald
Weber is an award-winning photographer
currently dividing his time
between Moscow and Kiev. The recipient
of a Guggenheim Fellowship in
2007 and a World Press Award, he is
represented by VII Network.

Curated by Johan H. Campbell