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alexiuss — Center of USSR

Published: 2008-04-06 06:43:19 +0000 UTC; Views: 179345; Favourites: 5120; Downloads: 10947
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Description This is Novosibirsk, my hometown, capital of Siberia.

The Chapel of St. Nicholas, originally built in 1915 to commemorate 300 years of Romanov rule, destroyed in 1930 and rebuilt in 1993, gleams in the middle of the photograph.
The plaque on it said: "This is the exact geographical center of Soviet Union."
I always wondered how exactly they measured that.
To me, as a kid, this had seemed like the center of the known world, the axis of intersections of trans-Siberian railways extending across Ural mountains to Kamchatka.

I returned to Novosibirsk during my Siberian trip in summer of 2007, to shoot this image during a thunderstorm, from the inside of a car standing in traffic.
If you're wondering- the sign on the building literally translates to: "Russ-government-fear", it's basically a humongous insurance company. I find the name rather inspiring and amusing either way.

This place, where I had lived for 9 years, had inspired my dreams and many of my paintings, as cloudscapes tend to be quite beautiful in Siberia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sky is dark thanks to HDR photography- 1 over-exposed shot for ground and 2 separate underexposed shots for sky combined into one image.
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Comments: 737

alexiuss In reply to ??? [2008-04-06 06:50:06 +0000 UTC]

haha I see you notice my creative signature integration against thievery, haha.

all other signs are Russian

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wanizame4545354 In reply to alexiuss [2008-04-06 12:38:55 +0000 UTC]

Can't be too careful,

Great picture anyway!

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MattBachelder In reply to alexiuss [2008-04-06 08:30:00 +0000 UTC]

first thing i noticed was the "Vitaly" plate. very cool idea! easy to overstep if you don't know who the artist is!

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MoMoMoMoe In reply to ??? [2008-04-06 06:47:26 +0000 UTC]

my god that sky is amazing...!! nice photo..!

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tehevilbatdog In reply to ??? [2008-04-06 06:45:09 +0000 UTC]

Wow. How did you catch that Vitality license plate o_o

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EternalShad0w In reply to tehevilbatdog [2008-04-09 23:26:26 +0000 UTC]

On the off chance that no one else points this out...
Vitaly S is his "signature" if you will. Since it is not written out anywhere else, I assume he added the name, and that of the car next to "VITALY : S", which says something like "SVITART.COM" - which I do believe is the artist's homepage of sorts.

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EternalShad0w In reply to EternalShad0w [2008-04-09 23:27:29 +0000 UTC]

In other words, it is not an actual license plate, but rather added by the artist.

~Very nicely done by the way, I do love the sky.

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iamthemonkeyhead In reply to tehevilbatdog [2008-04-06 08:52:53 +0000 UTC]

Vitaly... does it mean the same in Siberian?

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0verfl0w In reply to iamthemonkeyhead [2008-04-06 14:08:36 +0000 UTC]

it name fool.

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iamthemonkeyhead In reply to 0verfl0w [2008-04-06 14:15:35 +0000 UTC]

Learn some etiquette, then we can talk.

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0verfl0w In reply to iamthemonkeyhead [2008-04-06 14:28:47 +0000 UTC]

i dont care.
if you are speaking shit, with out knowilage.. better to shut up.

👍: 0 ⏩: 2

Solitaia In reply to 0verfl0w [2008-04-06 15:10:44 +0000 UTC]

Knowledge, you say?

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0verfl0w In reply to 0verfl0w [2008-04-06 14:29:19 +0000 UTC]

*knowledge

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iamthemonkeyhead In reply to 0verfl0w [2008-04-06 17:12:27 +0000 UTC]

Excuse me, but I was replying to a post someone had said was another word. I simply corrected them by saying it was not the English word they thought it was. But then asked if it had that meaning in Siberian. To ask about it is not "speaking shit" and I know you feel the need to "talk shit" to strangers who ask unassuming questions over the internet.
But the fact is that you would never say that to my face because you are a coward who attacked me for asking a question.

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GgioV In reply to iamthemonkeyhead [2009-11-22 08:30:00 +0000 UTC]

Love Urban themes

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angelicXimperfection In reply to iamthemonkeyhead [2008-04-07 02:21:56 +0000 UTC]

well spoke. way to stand up for yourself when no one else will. it's nice to see some decency in this day and age.

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iamthemonkeyhead In reply to angelicXimperfection [2008-04-07 04:35:09 +0000 UTC]

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alexiuss In reply to 0verfl0w [2008-04-06 16:51:03 +0000 UTC]

u guys amuse me

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0verfl0w In reply to alexiuss [2008-04-06 23:22:09 +0000 UTC]

Прости друг, просто нелюблю когда имя искажают или утверждают то, в чем сами неуверенны

классный снимок

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iamthemonkeyhead In reply to alexiuss [2008-04-06 17:14:58 +0000 UTC]

As for you Alexiuss, appreciate your artwork but you shouldn't be encouraging or allowing abuse to someone appreciating your work for asking a question.
I can't believe how many people corrected me for correcting someone else. That's just crazy.

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LordDraco3 In reply to iamthemonkeyhead [2008-04-06 20:14:09 +0000 UTC]

Ummm.....you guys DO know Vitaly is part of his signiture that he puts on ALL of his work, right? The car to the right of it completes his signiture.
haha...
Nice sneaky way to put it into this photo

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iamthemonkeyhead In reply to LordDraco3 [2008-04-07 04:35:36 +0000 UTC]

Hey that's neat. I haven't seen that in any other deviations though I should pay more attention.

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Local--Hero In reply to iamthemonkeyhead [2008-04-06 11:47:03 +0000 UTC]

I think it's a name. At least, one of the characters in "Lord of War" was called "Vitaly Orlov" O_o

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iamthemonkeyhead In reply to Local--Hero [2008-04-06 14:02:45 +0000 UTC]

Ok, cool. I was just checking that it didn't say vitality and I wasn't going to sound stupid by saying this.

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Dunnox In reply to iamthemonkeyhead [2008-04-06 11:46:45 +0000 UTC]

Vitaly is a russian name. Great shot

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0verfl0w In reply to Dunnox [2008-04-06 14:12:04 +0000 UTC]

idiot? Russian modificated form of Vitalis, Italian name, and came form the Late Latin, which was derived from Latin vitalis "of life, vital". Vitalis was the name of several early saints and martyrs.

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vix633 In reply to 0verfl0w [2008-04-13 03:03:05 +0000 UTC]

By the way.. i dont know how you didnt notice.

its a watermark, the photographers name.

"=alexiuss
Vitaly S. Alexius "

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vrinek502 In reply to vix633 [2008-11-16 11:53:24 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, and car next to it (on the tighr side) has the url "svitart.com"

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vix633 In reply to vrinek502 [2008-11-16 22:48:23 +0000 UTC]

hah, awesome!

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vrinek502 In reply to vrinek502 [2008-11-16 11:54:20 +0000 UTC]

*right side

(why doesn't DA allow commets edit, anyway?)

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butigroove In reply to 0verfl0w [2008-04-07 06:42:36 +0000 UTC]

modificated = not an english word.

modified, however, which is what i'm sure you meant, is.

I didn't realize DA had overcompensating chumps acting as know-it-alls here.

On a lighter note, the cloud formations in this shot is amazing.

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Dunnox In reply to 0verfl0w [2008-04-06 14:42:28 +0000 UTC]

Wow, you're such a smartass...

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iamthemonkeyhead In reply to Dunnox [2008-04-06 14:02:44 +0000 UTC]

Ok, cool. I was just checking that it didn't say vitality and I wasn't going to sound stupid by saying this.

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DSil In reply to ??? [2008-04-06 06:44:40 +0000 UTC]

Freakin' hell look at that sky!

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SonderSays In reply to DSil [2008-04-07 07:46:30 +0000 UTC]

=0

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ForeverEcho In reply to SonderSays [2010-03-22 22:59:52 +0000 UTC]

< !!!

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