Christopher Herwig’s Soviet Bus Stops

WORDS Lindi Brownell Meiring IMAGES Chrisopher Herwig VIDEO via Herwigphoto on Vimeo

Jordan-based Canadian photographer Christopher Herwig travelled almost 30 000km across 14 former Soviet Union countries to capture the era’s peculiar bus stops.

The bus stops represent an array of different styles from regions within Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Abkhazia, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Not only did it take 12 years to complete this project, travelling by car, bike, taxi and bus, it also meant Christopher had to take risks. He wrote on Kickstarter, “Despite my efforts not to arouse suspicion I was, on several occasions, accused of being a spy and only narrowly avoided getting caught up in something rather awkward. In Abkhazia my driver accused me of being a Georgian agent and photographing sensitive material. He demanded a bribe, otherwise, it would be ‘straight to the militizia and a firing squad.’”

The book was initially launched as a limited edition as part of a Kickstarter campaign started at the end of February 2014. By mid-March, the project had already been fully funded. The book is officially being launched (and is available for pre-order via Amazon) on 21 September 2015.

To view more of Christopher’s work, visit herwigphoto.com or like his Soviet Bus Stops page on Facebook.