Yury Pavlov is a member of the Russian Union of Photo Artists, a teacher, and a winner of multiple contests. He was born in Odessa but quite soon the family moved to Kaliningrad, following the footsteps of his father, captain of a whale boat. Pavlov was not professionally educated, and developed all his skills in practice. One of core motifs for him is life of ordinary people, and it is to them that the photographer dedicates the larger part of his works.

As often as not, Pavlov is focused on migrants, i.e. people who moved to Kaliningrad at different periods in history and brought particles of new culture to the city. It’s a very special generation of people — Kaliningrad residents, the photographer remarks in his interviews. He is also concerned about transformations occurring in the city. Kaliningrad invariably evokes the thought of horrors of destruction in me, says Pavlov.

The picture contributed to the exhibition captured the village of Vladimirovo — this is the modern name of the former Prussian village of Tharau. It is a place with a rich history. Tharau was first mentioned in 14th-century documents. In that period, the Church of St. Catherine was built there. It survived World War II virtually intact; however, Soviet authorities did not care about the heritage of East Prussia, so not a whole lot was left of the building in a short while. The luxurious pipe organ was dismantled first, then the bells were thrown down from steeples and the tiles were destroyed.

In the 1970s, the church was used as a warehouse for chemical fertilizers, and in the late 1980s, it was one of the places where the search after the famous Amber Chamber was unfolding. Some scholars believe the Nazis had brought the amber panels to Tharau from the Catherine Palace in Pushkino. A group of scavenge hunters from Riga found access to the basements and dug deep galleries underground, but to no avail. For a few decades now, people continue to look for the Amber Chamber in Kaliningrad and its suburbs.
In the early 1990s, slow work to restore the church began. Pavlov caught on camera the

In the early 1990s, slow work to restore the church began. Pavlov caught on camera the clearing that was carried out in 1990. All people in the picture are dressed in their finest clothes, because they had attended a music concert. Clearing began right after the performance of a men’s choir. In the 2000s, dilapidated wooden structures and rooftop were replaced in the church, and the roof covering of the tower was repaired. Today it is designated as a cultural heritage site of regional importance.