Soviet Bus Stops

Kristoffer Hegnsvad / & / 2023

In the former Soviet Union, art and architecture were tightly controlled. Buildings and monuments were determined from above, but artists and architects discovered that the grip was not as tight when it came to the Union’s bus stops. They took advantage of this to create magnificent and colourful works of art out of the otherwise mundane installations. Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig stumbled across one in 2002 and has been hunting down bus stops ever since, with his camera around his neck, to capture the architectural and artistic gems before they’re gone. Not everyone sees the same beauty when they look at Soviet relics. Director Kristoffer Hegnsvad gets in the car with Herwig and speeds around the vast expanses of the former Soviet Union for seven years in search of the incredible bus stops and their creators, to a score by the Latvian synth-rock band Zodiac, reunited for the occasion.