Mike Buscher: The Cuba Project

Siberia and the Russian Far East

In 2003, photojournalist Mike Buscher spent two months traveling by train across Siberia and the Russian Far East.

The Trans-Siberian Railroad is a 5800-mile lifeline that stretches from Europe to the Sea of Japan. There are roads in Siberia and the Russian Far East, but they are not always reliable, and they do not connect many of the cities, towns, and villages. The railroad ties everything together, and as a result, communities cling to the tracks. Wooden villages and concrete cities occasionally interrupt thousands of miles of taiga and steppe. Many of these communities would not exist if not for the railroad.

Mike decided to explore and photograph these communities as he made his way from Vladivostok in the Russian Far East to the Ural Mountains on the western edge of Siberia.

"I stopped in tiny villages like Bolshie Koty, medium-sized towns like Svobodny, and big cities like Novosibirsk," says Mike. "Until 1991, many of the places I visited were off-limits to most outsiders, especially photojournalists."


	Siberia and the Russian Far East In 2003, photojournalist Mike Buscher spent two months traveling by train across Siberia and the Russian Far East. The Trans-Siberian Railroad is a 5800-mile lifeline that stretches from Europe to the Sea of Japan. There are roads in Siberia and the Russian Far East, but they are not always reliable, and they do not connect many of the cities, towns, and villages. The railroad ties everything together, and as a result, communities cling to the tracks. Wooden villages and concrete cities occasionally interrupt thousands of miles of taiga and steppe. Many of these communities would not exist if not for the railroad. Mike decided to explore and photograph these communities as he made his way from Vladivostok in the Russian Far East to the Ural Mountains on the western edge of Siberia. "I stopped in tiny villages like Bolshie Koty, medium-sized towns like Svobodny, and big cities like Novosibirsk," says Mike. "Until 1991, many of the places I visited were off-limits to most outsiders, especially photojournalists."