Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Asian guest worker sits behind a barbed wire in front of his provisional apartment.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. A guest worker works on a roof.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. A guest worker painting the walls of a house.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An electricity meter with the handwritten stroke USSR hangs in the corridor of the apartment rented by the guest workers.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker shaves in the bathroom of his rented apartment. The sticker on the window has a lettering at me you are the first.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. A guest worker fires gas at a construction site.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker smokes at a construction site.
Vyborg, Russia. A Georgian guest worker prepares food in a cellar which he and his colleagues use as an apartment.
Vyborg, Russia. The guest workers from Georgia eat in a cellar which they use as their rented flat.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker prays at a construction site.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker leafs through a free catalogue of prostitutes at a construction site.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. A Georgian guest worker sits with a dog in the backyard of a Georgian pub.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. A Georgian guest worker smokes in the kitchen of a rented apartment.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker watches television in his rented apartment.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Uzbek guest workers relax in their rented apartment.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek migrant worker is holding a glass of beer with the words Saint Petersburg in his hand.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker and the daughter of his Georgian colleague sit in their rented apartment in front of the TV.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. A toy of the daughter of a Georgian guest worker hangs on the wall of a rented apartment.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. View from the window of the rented apartment of Uzbek guest workers.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. A guest worker stands on a roof and pulls the ropes of an external elevator.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker on the phone at Lenin Square.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. A tattoo on the arm of an Uzbek guest worker shows a flower growing through a cartridge and his blood type.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker throws bricks at a construction site.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker shovels cement at a construction site.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker is holding a motel ladle in his hand at a construction site.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker takes a break at a construction site.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker drags a sack of cement to a construction site.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. Two guest workers from Uzbekistan smoking cigarettes at a construction site.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. A mirror hangs on the wall of a construction site.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. A towel is hanging in the bathroom of the rented apartment of usbeck and georgian guest workers.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker sits under an umbrella, taking a break at a construction site.
Saint Petersburg, Russia. An Uzbek guest worker is washing up at a construction site.

Currently Russia comes first place in Europe and second place in the world (after the USA) regarding the absolute number of foreign workers. Already at the times of the Soviet Union Saint Petersburg was the cultural capital of Russia. Today it has become a showing town of the biggest country of the world, richly and brilliantly as modern Russia wants to present itself. However, the shine wants to be established and be received. Therefore Russia needs vast amounts of manpower from the former Soviet republics which are substantially cheaper than the local colleagues. The immigrant, who are referred to with the German word «Gastarbeiter» come primarily from Uzbekistan and Georgia. They are ready to work for the lowest wages to be able to maintain her families in Asia and in the Caucasus. At the same time, the open hatred of the nationalism, which is gaining strength, confronts them in Saint Petersburg. Their own housing conditions are wretched, while they polish up the facades of the Russian cultural metropolis.