Rada, 14, tries on a wedding dress designed by her sister in Chechnya — Phantom: Rada, 14, tries on a wedding dress designed by her sister. © Davide Monteleone, VII Photo for the Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Award

‘Chechnya is full of phantoms’ – photographs of transformation

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From a teenage girl in a wedding dress, to battalions training for an anti-terrorist operation, Davide Monteleone’s new exhibition showcases compelling portraits of a reconstructed republic

Spasibo: An exhibition of photographs by Davide Monteleone runs at the Saatchi Gallery, 11 October – 9 November 2014

They are wonderful images. A young girl in a wedding dress, a group of elders praying among the Caucasus mountains, the new, shiny skyline of Grozny, Chechnya’s reconstructed capital.

The Italian photographer Davide Monteleone spent five months last year in Chechnya. His vivid portraits, which go on show in the Saatchi Gallery next month, are an exploration of Chechen identity. They illuminate how the Muslim republic has been transformed – by peace, following two brutal wars, and by the uneasy cult-like rule of Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya’s feudal president.

Monteleone has been travelling to Chechnya since 2001. Back then, Grozny mimicked Stalingrad. “It was a different Chechnya I used to see. Today it looks calm and quiet,” he says. The once-flattened centre boasts gleaming towers and a central mosque. The killing and kidnapping have, largely, stopped.

A group of elders pray in the Caucasus mountains in Chechnya — A group of elders pray together in the Caucasus mountains. Photograph: © Davide Monteleone, VII Photo for the Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Award

But, Monteleone says, post-conflict Chechnya has something of a Potemkin village feel to it. The traditional horizontal network of proud Chechen clans has become a pyramid, with Kadyrov on the top. “The pressure is much more psychological,” he observes.

Uniquely for a Russian region, Vladimir Putin has allowed Kadyrov to shape Chechnya in his own image. To get a job, buy a car, have a better life – all require the patronage of the Chechen president and his circle. Monteleone’s photos show the recent drift towards Islamisation; headscarves are compulsory; elements of Sharia are creeping in.

Former rebels run Kadyrov’s security forces. One photo shows a battalion training for an “anti-terrorist operation”; human rights groups accuse his militias of numerous violations. Islamist extremists still exist, though their campaign to carve out an emirate has been pushed to the margins.

The Chechnyan special forces of the Batallion Server training for security operations — The special forces of the Batallion Server training for security operations. Photograph: © Davide Monteleone, VII Photo for the Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Award

Monteleone’s favourite shot is of a 14-year-old girl, Rada. She is trying on a wedding dress designed by her sister. Rada isn’t getting married, though some young Chechen girls are. “I call it a phantom. It looks more like a phantom than a bride,” the photographer says. He adds: “Chechnya is full of phantoms. A lot of people were killed in the war, or kidnapped. The place is a phantom in terms of ideology.”

Working in Chechnya poses its own challenges. On one occasion, the authorities detained Monteleone for six hours. But he also found much to like. “I have the impression Chechnya is a little bit like Italy after the second world war. I know this sounds weird. The way Chechens look and dress – the relations between men and women – remind me of Italian neo-realism. It’s southern Italy in the 50s and 60s.”