Instead, Doka approached his project more like a fashion photographer than a documentarian. Using his subjects’ clothing and decorative items, he styled them and their surroundings to create an image that best captured their love of Putin.
Left: Vika Matorina: “Putin is the only one, he is the ideal! It had been the tsar before and now it’s Putin, he is like God to me. I perceive him as daddy. He is a perfect man—politician, sportsman, family man! I want my husband to be like him!” Right: Lena: “I like it that Putin completes everything he starts. He is a very multifaceted person, for example he does judo, goes fishing and skiing. I think he is a good role model for young people.”
In interviews with Doka, club members discussed their admiration of Putin’s political accomplishments and positions, but many also spoke fervently about his personality. Several young woman described him as an ideal man, someone they’d want their future husband to resemble.
Doka hasn’t followed up with his subjects in the years since he made these photographs. But it’s youthful sentiments like those that make him think that, for many of them, Putin mania may have just been a passing phase, just like the other ephemeral passions of teenagers around the world.
“I can imagine right now most of these kids are not even devoted to Putin. It’s like music—you like Bon Jovi for three years and then after maybe you start to like jazz,’ he said.
“Fan Club Putin” will be on display at Photo London from May 21–24. Doka’s most recent project is “Studio Panindigan,” a series of portraits taken in a remote fishing village in the Philippines. It will be on display at Art15 from May 21–23 in London.
Tanya Skoropistseva and Lyosha Sobolkov. Tanya: “If Putin hadn’t changed Russian politics, we’d still be cheap labor force. He said that Russia is the country to be taken into account and it can’t be a door mat.” Lyosha: “I do judo and I’d love him to be my trainer. I started doing judo when Putin came to power.”