kommun-087
MS000521
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / June 2007 / Arina lives with her mother and a sister in a 30 square meter room in a communal appartment. They moved here about a month before this picture was taken after Arina's mother divorced with her father. Before they always had an appartment of their own. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000520
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Interior of a communal appartment. Most communal appartments have been created in pre-Soviet residential buidings, many of them have never been renovated since they were built in 19 - early 20 centuries. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000516
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / June 2007 / Marina (left), a realtor, eating her breakfast with her daughter Arina. Marina and two of her three children share a 30 square meter room where they moved about a month before this picture was taken after she divorced with her husband. Most Russians like to eat in their kitchens but those who live in communal housing can not and do it in their rooms. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000518
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Interior of a kitchen in a communal appartment. Normally, every family has a cooking table, a cupboard, etc. of their own. Kitchens, corridors, toilets, bathrooms in communal housing are referred to as "public use space" and are not always well maintained. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000523
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / A mosaic date in the entryway of an old appartment building where most flats are communal. Many of such buildings have never been renovated since there way built in 19 - early 20 centuries hence eternal problems with plumbing, heating and other utilities © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000524
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / A dining table and a TV in a room. Most Russians like eating in the kitchen but residents of communal appartments can not and do it in their rooms. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000519
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Andrei and Ksenia live with their parents in a room which is part of a communal appartment. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000526
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Detail of a bookshelf in a communal appartment. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000579
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Adel Kirillovna, a retired editor of a scientific magazine, has spent her entire life in communal housing. She says she has no prospects for getting out of here. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000529
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / June 2007 / Drying laundry in a communal appartment. Lack of space is one of the main pains for those who live in communal housing. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000535
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / A stairwell in a typical 19th century building which mainly consists of communal appartments. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000528
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Larisa Vasilievna (right) and her daughter Olga having a smoke in their communal kitchen. Larisa, a retired civil engineer, has spent her entire life in communal appartments like this one. She has been living here since 1965. Olga has two jobs - as doctor at a children's hospital and ad manager at a publishing house - and still it is not enough to afford decent housing for her family. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000531
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / In the kitchen of a communal appartment. Basically, each household has a fridge, a cupboard and a cooking table of their own. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000525
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Nastya, 4, waits while her mother makes her bed. Nastya lives with her parents and a sister in a 20-square-meter room. This one-family-one-room situation is very common in St.Petersburg. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000539
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / June 2007 / Natalia Kulakova lives with her husband and two children in one 20-sq-meter room in a communal appartment. She rents another room in the same appartment to run her own children's early development centre. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000532
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / June 2007 / View from a communal appartment onto a typical courtyard in a Soviet-built neighbourhood. Although newly built housing was not designed to accommodate communal flats, lack of housing forced authorities to continue the practice placing several families in one appartment. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000545
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Anastasia, a painter and a poet, owns a room in a communal appartment and uses it as a studio. She does not live here and probably because of that she likes her kommunalka a lot. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000546
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Marina, a designer, rents a room in a communal appartment. Communal rooms for rent is an affordable alternative to individual flats. An average rent for a decent room is about 170 euros per month. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000151
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Ceiling bearing traces of plumbing problems. Many old buildings with communal appartments have never seen a renovation since they were built in 19 - early 20 centuries, hence eternal problems with plumbing, heating, and other utilities. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000517
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Ksenia, 6, lives with her parents and a sister in a 20-square-meter room. This one-family-one-room situation is very common in St.Petersburg. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000533
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / June 2007 / A room in a communal appartment. It belongs to Dmitry, 23, a surgeon in residency. He says his mother helped him buy this room because they could not afford a separate flat. "As long as I am not married, I am fine here, it's centrally located and I have good friends among neighbours..." © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000515
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / June 2007 / A cleaning schedule sticked on a door in the kitchen of a communal appartment. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000601
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Nastya, 4, lives in a 20-square-meter room with her mother, father and sister. Her mother Natalya uses another room her family rents in the same communal appartment as a playroom for her private children's early development centre. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000548
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / A typical turn-of-the-century block of flats. Most communal appartments have been created in pre-Soviet residential buidings, many of them have never been renovated since they were built in 19 - early 20 centuries. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000549
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Anna, an assistant lawyer, rents a room in a communal appartment. Communal rooms for rent is an affordable alternative to individual flats. An average rent for a decent room is about 170 euros per month. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000552
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Misha, a migrant worker from Kyrgyzstan, has been living in this communal room for the last 20 years. Relatively cheap rent in communal housing allows him to support his family in his home country. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000556
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / A self-made magazine cover depicting migrant worker Misha's daughter. The poster hangs on the wall in Misha's communal room. Relatively cheap accommodation in communal housing allows Misha and other migrant workers to support their families back home. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000536
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / June 2007 / Slava plays with his two daughters. Slava, his wife Natalia and their two children live in a 20-sq-meter room in a communal appartment. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000554
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / A migrant worker from Azerbaijan who refused to give his name poses for picture in a dilapidated communal kitchen. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000569
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Street scene in an area where most housing is communal. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000570
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Youths hang out in the street in an area where most housing is communal. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000555
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / A boy cooks in his dilapidated communal kitchen. Basically, every household in a communal flat should have a cooking table and a cupboard of their own. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000600
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / A toilet in a communal appartment. The so-called "public use areas" - toilets, kitchens, corridors - are often the worst-maintained in communal housing. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000568
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Sasha, 49, former driver, lives only a paperboard wall away from his former wife, whom he divorced long ago, daughter and granddaughter. Two weeks after this picture was taken, Sasha got drunk and set an accidental fire in his room which killed his friend and severely injured himself. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000575
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / August 2007 / A man relaxing after having a bath in a public bath. In many communal appartments, there is still no hot water so people have to go to public baths to wash. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000616
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / June 2007 / A communal kitchen with two gas stoves. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000572
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / Locals hang out in the street in an area where most housing is communal. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000637
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / September 2007 / A communal kitchen. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MS000628
RUSSIA / St.Petersburg / July 2007 / A gateway of a residential building in an area where most housing is communal. © Max Sher / Anzenberger