Gorky Park

Paulina is a university lecturer from Nizhny Novgorod, formerly Gorky, in Russia. She’s spending a couple of weeks travelling around Britain, and when I met her she was sitting on a bench in Princes Street gardens.

She can talk as much as I can. After discussing the education systems in both countries, we moved on to international politics, diverting briefly to cover war photography, Russian businessmen, make-up, James Joyce and the Beatles.

When I told her I’d been nervous about asking for a photo, she wondered if it was because she looked intimidating. “It’s hard work looking as ferocious as this”, she sighed. And then she produced her powder puff.

Song/Translation