Arjun imprints the country’s culture and its people in his travel portraits from Russia. The gallery has an exotic touch to it and merrily speaks of a land very different from the one we live in. Among the wide region that Russia spans, two of its cities stand out. Not only do they stand out, but they do so in a poetically contradicting and an almost farcical manner. St. Petersburg, the cultural center of Russia, exists in an uninterrupted rawness faithful to its kind. It is the city of summer pastel buildings and royal cathedrals, of painstakingly beautiful churches with overwhelming names. It is the city of white nights, of idyllic settings, and of perennial art. Which is to say that here, art is not limited just to the gigantic and world-famous museums it shelters. For the city houses art on the streets, in its buildings, its bridges, and in everything else you rest your eyes upon.

Whereas Moscow, for the photographer, is about its streets. And the metro, and the square of course, but dominantly about its streets. About the beauty of hopscotching from one life to another. Taking in the cigarette smoke as two men amuse themselves over a game of chess in all sincerity. Humming to a ukulele tune played by two wrinkled hands. Swiveling through a phased jumble of a foreign tongue. All the while reveling, devouring, and celebrating the beauty of the unknown. Majorly a metropolitan, Moscow is a city crowded with businessmen and other important individuals in suits. Unlike St. Petersburg, which mainly sees those men in loose, touristy clothes. But no matter the differences, the cities are a glaring reflection of each other in one thing- their beauty. Surf through the gallery of travel photography tokens picked from the joyous country of Russia.