For the photo book “The Potemkin Village”, photographer Gregor Sailer documented backdrop towns from all over the world. Where are such Potemkin villages created – and who plans them? An interview.
More appearance than reality: this formula sums up the concept of the Potjemkin village in a nutshell. The idea is said to have originated with Russian Field Marshal Grogori Potjomkin, who wanted to demonstrate wealth and prosperity in the Tsarist Empire with backdrop towns. The illustrated book “The Potemkin Village” by photographer Gregor Sailer shows that he still has many imitators today. We spoke to him about the peculiar magic of these modern Potemkin villages.
Mr. Sailer, how did you come up with the idea of looking for Potemkin villages in the present day?
In principle, the subject has been with me for a long time. My interest in the artificiality and scenic nature of architectural environments has already driven me in previous projects, where I photographed so-called “closed cities” or an underground Messerschmidt aircraft factory from the Second World War. This time it has now become the focus. The research proved to be very productive. Because today there are an astonishing number of architectural phenomena that can be associated with the concept of the Potjemkin village.
What are they?
On the one hand, I came across very classic examples of backdrop towns, which – as in Potjomkin’s time – feign wealth and prosperity with fake architectural elements, even if the real buildings promise the opposite. This was the case in Russia, for example. Here I photographed buildings that were covered with large printed tarpaulins for a major media event in the city in order to make a better impression on viewers – which worked surprisingly well. However, there are also other occasions from which backdrop architecture can be created. In recent years, for example, many armies have built ghost towns to train for missions abroad. In Sweden, there are streets and rows of houses that serve as testing grounds for cars. And in China, old town districts are being built according to the European model, which are then to be sold as particularly luxurious residential complexes to wealthy clientele. It was important to me to deal with the phenomenon of the Potjemkin village as broadly and comprehensively as possible. That’s why I included all these variants in my work.
This term also has negative connotations – after all, it is ultimately about fake towns, i.e. copies and forgeries. As a photographer, what interests you about architecture that pretends to be something it is not?
It’s not the deceptive character per se. I find the interplay between successful and broken spatial illusions more exciting. As a photographer, I have the opportunity to capture and focus on the scenic quality of the house shells that potjemkin villages use to create the illusion of a normal place. When this succeeds, the juxtaposition of deception and the attempt to deceive that has been overturned creates very exciting and powerful images. At the same time, the images should also convey a political statement. I want to make people aware of the enormous effort that goes into recreating certain sections of reality today. A controlled illusory world is created here with high investment sums. I find that disturbing.
How real is the illusion created by such architectural backdrops?
Quite real. The U.S. military training cities in the Mojave Desert in particular, which are surrounded by an open, vast landscape, manage to convey a thoroughly familiar urban experience to the visitor on entering. This can be reinforced by certain artifices: The army, for example, permanently employs over 300 extras here to imitate life in a small Middle Eastern town. And on top of that, there is a complete set, right down to the fruit dummies for the market stalls.
So for the viewer, the boundary between a normal and a potjemkin village can become blurred.
Yes, but only selectively. At the end of the day, it is clear that these are not inhabited and developed settlements, but rather – albeit artfully executed – dummies. The dominant feeling that overcomes me in these places is therefore always one of loneliness – and emptiness.
“Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, it’s all about finding your way through the chaos of the authorities.”
Many of the places you visited are also cut off from the outside world. Military training grounds, for example – how do you gain access to such places as a photographer?
It’s actually not that easy, which is why my photographic work for this project was always accompanied by a very long research and organization phase. First of all, there is the very basic question of where such facilities can be found at all. In the case of militarily administered structures, the level of public information is not particularly high. Once you have found what you are looking for, you then have to find your way through the chaos of the authorities: Who is responsible for the property, who can grant permission for a visit? You often have to gain a profound insight into the organizational structure of an army – and hope that your request will not fall on deaf ears with the relevant authorities.
During your research, were you also able to find out who is in charge of the planning work for such military backdrop cities?
There are special military architects for this. They have the task of designing settings that reflect the conditions in the current theaters of war as accurately as possible. In recent decades, European armies have been particularly involved in conflicts in the Middle East region. In response to this, backdrop cities have been created that imitate the typical settlement forms of these countries. The architects design streets, squares and striking buildings such as mosques and minarets based on authentic models so that the soldiers can prepare for their deployment under conditions that are as close to reality as possible. And some of the planning goes right down to the last detail. For example, the steps.
“The atmosphere that prevails is pretty spooky.”
What needs to be taken into account?
In many places in the world, steps have different dimensions than we are used to, for example, the steps are shorter and the gradient higher. In urban combat, it can be fatal if the soldiers are not prepared for such details.
Despite all the attention to detail, is there anything that can’t be artificially created when planning houses or cities?
What I have never encountered is anything like an authentic urban feel. Of course, this is not the focus of the mocktwons, which are used for military purposes. But even when attempts are made to design real residential cities using a Potjemkin approach to architecture, this quality does not seem to materialize. It is based much more on social experiences and interactions than on a specific type of architectural environment. In the sparsely populated Chinese city copies, for example, even the most magnificent house facades cannot hide the fact that this dimension is completely absent. The atmosphere that prevails here is then quite spooky.
Gregor Sailer’s photographs can be seen at the Freelens Gallery in Hamburg until March 8, 2019.
