Kirill Golovchenko: 7 Km (English and German Edition)

If you've ever wondered if consumer culture in the former Soviet Union has caught up with the West, this amazing book will put those thoughts to rest. The largest marketplace in Europe is located ''7 km'' from Odessa, in the Ukraine. Russian photographer Kirill Golovchenko has made this vast institution into a fascinating work of socio-documentary photography. Golovchenko plunged into this 200-acre-plus city of commerce, where 16,000 ''shops'' are housed in shipping containers, and 200,000 retailers come to purchase their goods. He chooses images that portray both the market itself and the essence of the 60,000 people who work there. It all jells into a riot of colors and orderly chaos. Strong, deep work by a young artist--born in 1974--following in a great photographic tradition.