Dreamin’ Irkutsk

Photos: Julia Sellmann

A fast car, a big family, a candyfloss unicorn, a wishing well – Irkutsk is not only defined by its past or its present but also by the dreams and aims of its residents. Julia Sellmann’s portraits and interviews explore what people of different ages and social backgrounds dream of.

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Julia Sellmann

Julia, 19, Journalist

»My dream, maybe… I don’t have any great dreams like going all around the world or such. I just want to live well in Irkutsk, have a family, have an opportunity to travel and I just wish everything goes well.«

Julia Sellmann

Alexander, 26, Dancer

It is an interesting question if I have a dream. At one period of my life, at the sixth year of medical school, I started to dance in the streets of Irkutsk, I listened to music in big headphones and I couldn’t help but dance. I did it for several months, for half a year or so. And people started to notice me, even journalists. At the very time I was invited to organize a mass event. We organized a flashmob dedicated to Irkutsk’s Town Day, its 355th anniversary. We gathered several hundred people in the center, danced in the pouring rain and smiled from ear to ear – it was great!

That was the very breaking point when I realized: I want to do it! This is what makes my eyes glow. This is where I got to without noticicing it, but this is where I was meant to get. And now I know for sure that my dream is to unite one million people with music. There are various moments in our lives: people travel, read books, make love, simply do what they like to do and have different levels of satisfaction. And I personally get an unreal satisfaction while listening to music, while dancing. And my dream is that one million people get that level of happiness. And I’ll do everything that depends on me.

Julia Sellmann

Milana, 24, Teacher

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Roma, 20, Student

»I’d love to go to Finland. I admired its beauty, its nature, it cannot be compared with anything else.«

Rinat, 21, Student

Julia Sellmann

Aleksei, 21, Student

Julia Sellmann

Daria, 25, PR Manager

Erstens: wir haben nicht offensiv gespielt. Es gibt keine deutsche Mannschaft spielt offensiv und die Name offensiv wie Bayern. Letzte Spiel hatten wir in Platz drei Spitzen: Elber, Jancka und dann Zickler.

Artur, 13, Pupil

»All my life I dreamed to visit Rome and to travel to different countries. I was told that there are very beautiful sightseeings there and I’d like to see the Coliseum.«

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Svetlana, 16, Pupil

We live outside of large cities, in Siberia, and quite often the cultural events, concerts of famous bands happen short of Irkutsk. They stop somewhere, stop somewhere in Novosibirsk – the tour of the Bolshoi Theater will never come to Irkutsk. And unfortunately not everyone knows about all that we have. Yes, we do have exhibits of our local artists, photographers, but not evereyone knows about them and visits them. I dream of having the opportunity to see some prominent meaningful exhibits. Unfortunately we don’t have big theater… Yes, we do have Drama theater and it is indeed very good, but sometimes we miss something bigger. Perhaps it would change our town.

Julia Sellmann

Julia, 39, Lawyer