Edelstein’s world by Denis Kaminev

The Church of Resurrection in Karabanovo village (Kostroma oblast), built in 1833, experienced both physical and spiritual destruction in Soviet times, when it was turned into a machinery service station and a fertilizer depot, and was fully re-established under the guidance of a priest by the name of George Edelstein.

The Church of Resurrection in Karabanovo village (Kostroma oblast), built in 1833, experienced both physical and spiritual destruction in Soviet times, when it was turned into a machinery service station and a fertilizer depot, and was fully re-established under the guidance of a priest by the name of George Edelstein.

George is a rather interesting person. A well-known dissident, candidate of Philological Sciences and father of Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, a speaker of the Israeli Knesset, he is surrounded by atmosphere which is best described as magic realism: the more you peer, the more surprising past and present events unfold in front of you. At the same time, nothing strange is happening for the 87-year-old archpriest, his friends and congregation — as it is their world.

It is that more interesting how the “Edelstein’s world” coexists with the outer world in good harmony: I was lucky enough to chat with a political scientist, an art restorer, a photographer and a Lithuanian politician during my stays at the archpriest’s house; George himself visits Israel annually to enjoy the top-level medicine care and he is very much fond of the latest art fairs happening in Europe. This mix presents itself very naturally, so you do realise the remarkability of it only when leaving the village.

Starting from 1979, the year that he was ordained as a priest, George has been restoring old churches in Russian province. His friends told me that he finds something common yet different with every person he talks with and „people come for God, but stay for Edelstein“.

When I called him and told that I’m an aspiring photographer willing to get to know him, he made it clear: an Orthodox priest is not the person to ask a permission to talk, one can just come if they want to.

He is ready to discuss every topic ranging from religion to his life’s details. „For me, every Christian is important: Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox“ he says. And, at once, „I might be a bad Christian… The Book says: ‘Love your enemies’, but I downright do not love my enemies. I wouldn’t like my friends and fellows to love them, too“.

One day, when we were walking to the church, a man awaited George in a bright orange „Moskvitch“ car.

The driver, Sergey, suffered from a medical malpractice: in 1990 he was appointed a lumbar puncture which was then carried inaccurately; he hasn’t been able to walk on his own ever since. He visits George since 1992 on a regular basis to receive a blessing.

-Don’t get out of the car“ joked George approaching the orange Moskvitch.

-Bless me, father“ asked Sergey.

The Church of the Resurrection is with no doubt the main waypoint of the village — white in contrast with the grey or green background (depending on the season), with golden domes and spire, it immediately draws your attention.

Fir trees to the sides of the footpath to the church grow weak and yellow. During the Soviet era the church was simultaneously a tractor station and a fertilizer storage. Chemicals have soaked into the ground beneath the building, and during the first years of operation whitewash on the walls peeled off heavily under the influence of ammonia vapors. Now they affect the plants near the church.

According to George, the Church of the Resurrection was suited to the needs of communist economy due to the actions of a Karabanovo native, Pavel Fedorovich Fedorov, who was the chairman of a local kolkhoz called „Red Army“. He addressed higher ranking authorities and was given verbal admission to use the church as an MTS (machine tractor station).

His son Boris, „a daredevil and a drinker“ who took a revolutionary surname Volin (a derivative from [vol’ya], ‘will’ in Russian), as told by George, decided to remedy his father’s deeds and made the effort to get a permit for re-construction of the religious site in 1990.

Boris didn’t want George to give a memorial service for him sober, and often cited a popular song: „We were born with wine, with wine we will die, with wine they will bury us and with a drunk priest, so you too don’t bury me sober, take a drink“. Now Boris Volin lies at the burial ground of the church near his father Fedor, separated by a metal grill.

Father George is respected among locals not only because of his attitude toward the parish, but also for his contribution to the community. Apart from restoring the Church of the Resurrection he helped to acquire endowments for a House of Mercy in Ivanovskaya village 5 kilometers from Karabanovo. A former temporary accommodation facility, from 2018 it admits people with social and health problems.

Besides, George helped organize the restoration of the roof of a local school and promoted the construction of a chapel near a Soviet-era House of Culture. The slogan „Power to the soviets, land to the peasants, mills and factories to the workers“ still can be read on the remains of the mosaic on the building.

  

More Stories

The invisible man by Marius Surleac

The invisible man by Marius Surleac

The invisible man was selected and published in our print edition 22. Unexpressed emotions, hidden from the eye of the crowd, waiting to be found, like a gold nugget in the mud, sitting, unattended but pulsing, pumping every second until someone could sense that vibe.
Five minutes with Yura Kurnosov

Five minutes with Yura Kurnosov

I shoot a people, ordinary people. I love to tinker with them, spend time on them. I coming to them in houses, apartments, rooms and so on.
Forms of mental illness by Ritam Talukdar

Forms of mental illness by Ritam Talukdar

Within each of us there lies a small portion of unsatisfactory statement that slowly over the passing time, turns onto us, even if we try to be significant we find some part of it to be missing.
https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/bannerpr.jpg

We invite you to participate in the first edition of the Portrait Photography Awards. Our call is open to any artistic interpretation of portrait photography.

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/BAnImage.jpg

ImageRights provides intelligent image search and copyright enforcement services to photo agencies and professional photographers worldwide.

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/mono2022.jpg

The best 100 images along with the winning images published in the yearly book “Monochromatic – Best Photographers of 2022”

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/banner24.jpg

Call For Entries #24 | After 23 editions and more than 100 published photographers, our print edition has proven to be a simply effective promotional channel.

Chris Kirby ; We gave you forgiveness… (you kept the Krugerrands)

Chris Kirby ; We gave you forgiveness… (you kept the Krugerrands)

Two decades after Nelson Mandela was elected, and after the much lauded peace and reconciliation process, racial tension in South Africa is still a major issue. Many believe that the country has become more divided as the economy
SF to Paris in Two Minutes

SF to Paris in Two Minutes

I shot a photo roughly every two miles between take-off in San Francisco and landing in Paris CDG to make this airplane time lapse.
Hypothesis by Claudio Mortensen

Hypothesis by Claudio Mortensen

The central idea for Hypothesis Project came to me during a theatrical performance, that I had the opportunity to photograph in 2016. Once the performance started, immediately came to my mind, a memory of part of poem from a Brazilian poet, Carlos Drummond de Andrade.
kings,queens & fairy tales by John Paul Evans

kings,queens & fairy tales by John Paul Evans

The project is a development of work with my partner Peter in which we perform various incarnations of the couple/family/ wedding portrait. These images were initially inspired by the tradition of the painted wedding portrait in western art history.
Landscape photography by Rohan Reilly

Landscape photography by Rohan Reilly

Rohan Reilly is a self-learned photographer and gallery owner based in Kinsale, Ireland. Formerly a record label owner, producer, and DJ, Rohan lived in Barcelona, Spain for several years.
A Hindu funerary rite in a Calcuta crematory by Joxe Inazio Kuesta

A Hindu funerary rite in a Calcuta crematory by Joxe Inazio Kuesta

Today we are going to go to a different site that will interest you, which will impress you, Rahul told me. Where? I asked. You'll see, he answered. Rahul was my guide: a boy who slept in the street. And he was right, it was impressive, exciting.
England by Valeria Ranalli

England by Valeria Ranalli

Valeria left her hometown in Italy, L’Aquila, just after her graduation and she moved to England where she lived for nearly 4 years. During her staying, she had the chance to visit and live in different cities such as Liverpool, Coventry, Birmingham and London.
Scenes from a memory by Ekaterina Bourindine

Scenes from a memory by Ekaterina Bourindine

I thought that I never remembered anything from those last moments, where I was asked to part from my family and friends and just pick up and leave.
Passion for photography; Stefano Coltelli

Passion for photography; Stefano Coltelli

Born in 1978, I always had a passion for photography, since I received my first film camera as gift. When I met my girlfriend, who is also interested in photography, I started taking pictures with a compact camera
Uli Weber ; Fashion and Portraiture

Uli Weber ; Fashion and Portraiture

The photographer, Uli Weber, has built a global reputation on his mastery of two distinct fields: capturing the profound and the profane in a popular culture fixated with celebrity; and revealing the intimate truths of portraiture.
Imaginary worlds; Symbiosis by Andrea Costantini

Imaginary worlds; Symbiosis by Andrea Costantini

She can be Mother or stepmother, uncontaminated or sick but mankind is always obliged to establish a relationship with Mother Nature.
Off-Season Santas by Mary Beth Koeth

Off-Season Santas by Mary Beth Koeth

An ongoing portrait series of off-season Santas. Santa Roy is a retired police officer who, in 1984, was named one of the Top Ten Law Enforcement Officers in the State of Florida.
Urban Tapestry by Wing Chan

Urban Tapestry by Wing Chan

Entering the world of Wing Chan’s photomontages is the beginning of a visual adventure. His unique and stimulating images encourage you to take a closer look at the environment of the city.
The Weight Of Water by Jennifer Orhélys

The Weight Of Water by Jennifer Orhélys

The Weight of Water is a serie of self-portraits contrasting and colourful of modern-day sirens and nymphs. After seizing the telluric forces of the series My Wild Tales, as a metaphor for an inner emotional tremor.
Blue Dot by Sergei Stroitelev

Blue Dot by Sergei Stroitelev

According to statistics, about 20% of the population in Russia have an anxiety-depressive disorder, and the same percentage of the population - all the prerequisites for its development. The reasons are stress, changes in society, problems of Internet dependency and other factors.
Inside the Camera Bag of Richard Murai

Inside the Camera Bag of Richard Murai

In addition to using protective lens filters, whether in transit or in the field, I package bodies and lenses in plastic bags. I have duplicate lenses for each body so I rarely change lenses in the field.

Featured Stories

Michal Baran ; Beauty & Fashion Photography

Michal Baran ; Beauty & Fashion Photography

Michał Baran was born and raised in Poland, graduating in computer science, he worked as a web-master, graphic designer and developer, but his greatest passion has always been photography. 
Not in Kansas by Vicky Martin

Not in Kansas by Vicky Martin

Not In Kansas is a staged series of photographs inspired by the tenacious, self- reliant character Dorothy from the story The Wizard of Oz.
Ordinary days is beautiful  by Takako Fukaya

Ordinary days is beautiful by Takako Fukaya

Takako Fukaya has three daughters. They are so special to her. Also she thinks “Children” like them is a hope and a future in this world.
Erik Johansson ; An Amazing World

Erik Johansson ; An Amazing World

Erik Johansson is a photographer and retoucher from Sweden based in Prague, Czech Republic and Sweden. He is working on both personal and commissioned projects with clients all around the world. Erik Johansson doesn't capture moments, he captures ideas.
A Show of Hands by Tim Booth

A Show of Hands by Tim Booth

A Show of Hands is an extensive photographic study of the hands of Britain by the photographer Tim Booth, who has turned images of people’s hands into an alternative form of portraiture.
Intimate portraits of animals; Behind Glass by Anne Berry

Intimate portraits of animals; Behind Glass by Anne Berry

Behind Glass is a collection of photographs made in monkey houses of small zoos throughout Europe. Anne Berry is recognized for her ability to create lyrical, intimate portraits of animals.
Himalaya; Sound of silence by Jagdev Singh

Himalaya; Sound of silence by Jagdev Singh

The land of high passes in Ladakh, India in the shadow of the Himalayas impregnates nature in its most immaculate form. The boundless beauty of the mystic peaks, fathomless vastness, cloud shadows playing hide n seek on mountains all during the day
Chinese Opera by Tewfic El-Sawy

Chinese Opera by Tewfic El-Sawy

It is widely acknowledged that Chinese opera (Cantonese, Hokkien or Teochew) in Malaysia (and elsewhere) is on the wane due to the lack of interest from a younger generation.
Urban environments; Mea Shearim by Alexandra Buxbaum

Urban environments; Mea Shearim by Alexandra Buxbaum

Alexandra Buxbaum’s work has focused on documenting the human experience of various people and cultures living in disparate urban environments around the world.
Between Intervals by Maren Klemp

Between Intervals by Maren Klemp

My goal with this project is to raise awareness of mental health. "Between Intervals" is a plunge into the darker sides of the human mind, and the photographs are visual representations of conditions associated with mental illness.
Bill Gekas ; Fine art portrait photographer

Bill Gekas ; Fine art portrait photographer

Bill Gekas is a multi awarded and published photographer that was born and resides in Melbourne Australia.
Le chat noir by Le Turk

Le chat noir by Le Turk

Le Turk was born one night simply when listening by chance to Bach's Saint John Passion, nice and loud in headphones.
The state of britain by David Barrett

The state of britain by David Barrett

The state of Britain project was intended to be a study of Americanisation within the UK, however ,The result of the Brexit referendum signaled to me that Britain was about to change more significantly , Britain was about to exchange its liberal European past for a survival of the fittest ”Wild West” culture . 
Window by Fang Tong

Window by Fang Tong

It is often said that eyes are windows to the soul. When we think of windows, we usually look through the window at the scenery and the world.This time I want to change the perspective by looking from outside the window to inside to see different emotions and situations.
Nostalgia by Mauricio Candela

Nostalgia by Mauricio Candela

A reflection on how fast the world moves today because of technology. And as a result, how younger generations have walked away from the simplest and most basic things in life.
Vignettes of a salesman by Ole Marius Joergensen

Vignettes of a salesman by Ole Marius Joergensen

A lot of traditions are being lost as new technologies are invading our day-to-day world. The door-to-door salesman is a relic from the 50s.

Trending Stories

Growing in Darkness by Mário Macilau

Growing in Darkness by Mário Macilau

Mário Macilau is a photographer who works with “the ghosts of society” – socially isolated groups and subcultures – activating subjects and their stories though his psychologically sensitive yet loaded photographic lens.
Natural phenomena; Numen by Ville Kansanen

Natural phenomena; Numen by Ville Kansanen

Numen is a series of photography, sculpture, video, and land art. The intention of the work is to mimic, simulate and interact with natural phenomena that humankind has revered as supernatural: the numinous – the basis for nascent religious belief systems.
Purgatory by Daniele Martire

Purgatory by Daniele Martire

Purgatory is a personal reinterpretation of Dante’s work, an oneiric photographic/textual journey inside japanese modern society and its critical topics.
Victoria Knobloch ; What we really want to learn in school

Victoria Knobloch ; What we really want to learn in school

This project is a multilayered one. First I was thinking about how I could raise money for Deseret Community School in Uganda with the tool of art and preferably in collaboration with the children of the school itself.
Interview with France Leclerc; published in our print edition #20

Interview with France Leclerc; published in our print edition #20

France Leclerc, born in Québec, Canada, is an independent photographer who currently lives in Chicago.  Her early career was in academia, but her true passion for documentary and street photography has now taken over. 
Festival of Lilies by Umberto Lucarelli

Festival of Lilies by Umberto Lucarelli

The Festival of Lilies is a popular Catholic celebration that takes place every year at Nola (Naples, Italy) on the occasion of the patron saint celebration dedicated to San Paolino.
Jim Mortram

Jim Mortram

Jim Mortram is the pictorial architect behind Small Town Inertia; revealing portraits of people and their stories within a three mile radius of his home. This short film documentary introduces one of photography's more altruistic photographers
Fine Art Photography; Ronny Behnert

Fine Art Photography; Ronny Behnert

Ronny Behnert was born in Luckenwalde, a small city in the south of Berlin, Germany. Since 1989 he lives and works in Berlin but during this time he had his second home in Frankfurt
Narrative about a woman; Auntie Toothache by Giovanni Moran

Narrative about a woman; Auntie Toothache by Giovanni Moran

Let’s go back down to memory lane and remember a moment of nostalgia when we were young and experience our first minor toothache and the remission in that infected tooth
Beautiful Creatures by Seigar

Beautiful Creatures by Seigar

This series shows eight ladies as beautiful creatures in a natural pool. This set belongs to the third part of the project entitled "1 2 3 No Hashtags" which fights against any type of discrimination and prejudice and aims for equality.
Five minutes with Dalia Fichmann

Five minutes with Dalia Fichmann

I never planned to become a photographer it came naturally. I spent a lot of time participating at dog sports contests. Watching and participating alone was too boring there is always a lot of waiting time.
Colors, textures, culture, and traditions; Benjo Arwas photography

Colors, textures, culture, and traditions; Benjo Arwas photography

Benjo Arwas was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. After spending 5 years in the army he grew a deep appreciation for life. Thirsty to experience the world, he began traveling

Other Stories

stay in touch
Join our mailing list and we'll keep you up to date with all the latest stories, opportunities, calls and more.
We use Sendinblue as our marketing platform. By Clicking below to submit this form, you acknowledge that the information you provided will be transferred to Sendinblue for processing in accordance with their terms of use
We’d love to
Thank you for subscribing!
Submission
Dodho Magazine accepts submissions from emerging and professional photographers from around the world.
Their projects can be published among the best photographers and be viewed by the best professionals in the industry and thousands of photography enthusiasts. Dodho magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any submitted project. Due to the large number of presentations received daily and the need to treat them with the greatest respect and the time necessary for a correct interpretation our average response time is around 5/10 business days in the case of being accepted.
- Between 10/30 images of your best images, in case your project contains a greater number of images which are part of the same indivisible body of work will also be accepted. You must send the images in jpg format to 1200px and 72dpi and quality 9. (No borders or watermarks)
- A short biography along with your photograph. (It must be written in the third person)
- Title and full text of the project with a minimum length of 300 words. (Texts with lesser number of words will not be accepted)
This is the information you need to start preparing your project for its presentation
To send it, you must compress the folder in .ZIP format and use our Wetransfer channel specially dedicated to the reception of works. Links or projects in PDF format will not be accepted. All presentations are carefully reviewed based on their content and final quality of the project or portfolio. If your work is selected for publication in the online version, it will be communicated to you via email and subsequently it will be published.
Contact
How can we help? Got an idea or something you'd like share? Please use the adjacent form, or contact contact@dodho.com
Thank You. We will contact you as soon as possible.
Submission
Dodho Magazine accepts submissions from emerging and professional photographers from around the world.
Their projects can be published among the best photographers and be viewed by the best professionals in the industry and thousands of photography enthusiasts. Dodho magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any submitted project. Due to the large number of presentations received daily and the need to treat them with the greatest respect and the time necessary for a correct interpretation our average response time is around 5/10 business days in the case of being accepted. This is the information you need to start preparing your project for its presentation.
To send it, you must compress the folder in .ZIP format and use our Wetransfer channel specially dedicated to the reception of works. Links or projects in PDF format will not be accepted. All presentations are carefully reviewed based on their content and final quality of the project or portfolio. If your work is selected for publication in the online version, it will be communicated to you via email and subsequently it will be published.
Get in Touch
How can we help? Got an idea or something you'd like share? Please use the adjacent form, or contact contact@dodho.com
Thank You. We will contact you as soon as possible.