Photographs of Siberia’s female prisoners to be exhibited in Moscow

An exhibition of portraits of female prisoners in Siberia by photographer Elena Anosova will open at Moscow’s Elektrozavod at the end of this month. Anasova spent several months in Siberia in 2014 meeting incarcerated women, whom she photographed with their dearest possessions — a bible, a plant or a needle and thread.

Anasova’s project offers a different perspective of these women who live under constant surveillance. As she writes: “Exposure to many years of this type of “nudity” and the loss of intimacy deforms a person, transforming them into something every bit as cruel and dangerous to society as the crimes that land these people in jail.”

The photo series is part of a trilogy on women’s institutions, and will be on display at Red Square gallery at Elekrozavod studios from the 27 May.