The book presents 170 images, mainly shop window displays, shot by artist David Hlynsky during the final years of the collapsing Soviet empire in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, East Germany and Moscow, using a Hasselblad camera to capture the slow, undramatic moments of daily life on the streets. The photographs are accompanied by essays by art historian Martha Langford and cultural studies specialist Jody Berland, as well as Hlynsky's own account of his time as a flaneur in the shopping plazas behind the Iron Curtain.

A surreal and magical window into a unique commercial aesthetic that flourished under the crumbling Communist regimes of 20th-century Europe

About the Author
David Hlynsky is Senior Lecturer in Arts, Culture and Media at the University of Toronto. He is founding editor of the alternative photography magazine Image Nation (1973-83), and the author of Baggage and Salvage.

Reviews
'The pictures reveal a world without enterprise ... almost 30 years ago' - Daily Mail
'A fascinating view of an old era of consumerism that began to crumble with the Berlin Wall in 1989' - Independent
'In 170 photos, Hlynsky's book portrays a colourful and almost childlike world now absent' - GUP magazine



Book Information
ISBN 9780500252116
Author David Hlynsky
Format Hardback
Page Count 208
Imprint Thames & Hudson Ltd
Publisher Thames & Hudson Ltd
Weight(grams) 860g