I was almost 63 when the company for whom I worked ‘let me go’, it was quickly established that finding new work at that age was impossible. The Swiss government had a scheme to help such cases - a cultural exchange with either Russia or Ukraine - I applied for this and in January 2005 I flew to Sankt Petersburg. I worked for the House of Friendship as a photographer - a wonderful opportunity to gain access to all sorts of inside activities: A visit from the a Japanese contingency (simultaneous translation from Japanese to Russian - most strange), the presentation of a Harry Potter book to some young school children (I had to sign it as I came from the land of Harry Potter), a public speaking competition for young students - in English (they were excellent). I was using a Sony digital camera and what I hadn’t realised were the limitations it had when using a high ISO, this meant that the images could not be enlarged too much otherwise the ‘noise’ became very visible.

The living conditions were quite primitive and it was quite often cold in my flat, but life was very interesting.