The Heidi Chronicles (Page 3)

She does keep in touch with some of her subjects, like Sasha, a policeman. Such a friend can come in handy. Once, a policeman pulled her over, said that "something" was expired, and threatened to impound her car. When the traditional bribe failed, she called her friend Sasha and passed the phone to her persecutor.

Heidi Hollinger as photographer and model: with Russian pop group Na-Na, on the cover of Amerika, with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, and below right, three portraits from her books on the Russian people.

"The next thing I know, he gives me my phone, my papers, and waves bye -bye. I called Sasha and asked 'What did you tell him?' He said 'I just spoke in our language.'" The relationship has been mutually beneficial, as Sasha's photograph has made him famous. "They've put that picture on the cover of many books in Russia," Hollinger laughs.

Brushes with traffic cops aside, life in Russia has been good for Hollinger. Her renown has paid off in numerous freelance jobs for glossy magazines, the occasional commission for portraits of diplomats and their families, and campaign poster assignments. In 1994 she was hired as photo editor for Pravda, but she left the job after six months as it began to interfere too much with her own freelance projects. Now, self-employed and working largely from her studio, she is prospering. And Moscow is a good place to be.

"Moscow has incredibly high energy," she says. "It's very exciting; socially, everything is changing very rapidly." Much of the change is evident in the look of the city, and civic politicians have approached Hollinger about a series of photos that would reflect the changing face of the city. Old buildings are cleaned and renovated, new ones sprout up -- or down: an underground mall adjacent to the Kremlin, the Manezh shopping complex, was inspired by Montreal's "underground city."

But life for the average Muscovite is less wonderful, Hollinger notes. "While everybody gets to look at the beautiful revamped buildings, salaries are really low and prices have gone up. A lot of people are being left out, especially older people. There are no line-ups now but they can't afford anything." Her new book illustrates the divide: a photo of an elderly female war vet proudly brandishing a poster of Stalin contrasts with those of hip young business people.

While she says that she is uneasy being photographed -- "I feel camera-shy" -- a feature on Hollinger recently appeared in Amerika, a magazine focussing on the other side of the once-iron curtain. The article is illustrated by shots of Hollinger with the famous people she has captured on film, and one lone shot of her (the credit in small letters identifies one Vladimir Putin as the photographer). On the cover of the magazine, she wears a fur coat draped around her belly; the caption reads "Pregnant with Russia."

She has since had a son, Luka, the reason for her brief return to Canada. But how long she will remain is an open question. "I love Canada, and Montreal," she says, "but I miss Moscow very much. A few times a day, involuntarily, I'll imagine myself driving down a street in Moscow, or walking along an avenue. Anything can happen there."

But the strongest appeal of Russia is not its boulevards but its citizens. "The people are very magnetic," Hollinger says. "They're very open and generous with emotions. If they become your friend there, they'll do anything for you." And "Heidichka," as she is known, has made many friends. It seems a safe bet that before too long the bustling Moscow nightlife will witness a soirée of politicians, traffic cops and assorted Muscovites celebrating the return of Heidi Hollinger.