Putin’s controversial new photographer

When it comes to photos of Vladimir Putin, he’s usually the one who’s scantily clad, not his photographer. So this story comes as a bit of a surprise. Perhaps he’s been spending a bit too much time with Berlusconi: Russia’s government Friday sought to douse a frenzy of Internet comment after it hired an attractive ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
552718_lapikova2.jpg
552718_lapikova2.jpg

When it comes to photos of Vladimir Putin, he's usually the one who's scantily clad, not his photographer. So this story comes as a bit of a surprise. Perhaps he's been spending a bit too much time with Berlusconi:

When it comes to photos of Vladimir Putin, he’s usually the one who’s scantily clad, not his photographer. So this story comes as a bit of a surprise. Perhaps he’s been spending a bit too much time with Berlusconi:

Russia’s government Friday sought to douse a frenzy of Internet comment after it hired an attractive former model and "Miss Moscow" finalist as personal photographer to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The government confirmed the hiring of Yana Lapikova to join the pool of Putin’s official photographers as an intern but insisted she had been chosen on the grounds of her personal qualities alone.

Prominent Russian blogger drugoi posted scantily-clad photographs of the sultry brunette’s modelling past on his LiveJournal site, provoking a flurry of comments querying the real reason why she was hired.

If you’re curious about the sultry photos in question, Julia Ioffe’s gotcha covered.

Given the B-list celebs who routinely make their way into Russia’s parliament, an ex-model photographer isn’t really that crazy. But the Kremlin seems weirdly defensive about it: 

"We do not hire photographers according to gender. She is genuinely a good photographer, her past as a model does not concern us. In any case, it is not a crime," Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RIA Novosti news agency.

He explained that it was not easy for the government to hire photographers as the pay for the job was considerably less than that offered in international photo agencies.

"Working as a personal photographer is a kind of torture which is not payed like in the international agencies but far lower".

So, "we hired her because she’s totally qualified but it’s a really bad job that no one would want anyway"?

I don’t know. Even if the pay isn’t great, following around Putin and photographing him while he tranquilizes the endangered species of Siberia sound like a pretty great job to me.

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

More from Foreign Policy

Residents evacuated from Shebekino and other Russian towns near the border with Ukraine are seen in a temporary shelter in Belgorod, Russia, on June 2.
Residents evacuated from Shebekino and other Russian towns near the border with Ukraine are seen in a temporary shelter in Belgorod, Russia, on June 2.

Russians Are Unraveling Before Our Eyes

A wave of fresh humiliations has the Kremlin struggling to control the narrative.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shake hands in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shake hands in Beijing.

A BRICS Currency Could Shake the Dollar’s Dominance

De-dollarization’s moment might finally be here.

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in an episode of The Diplomat
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in an episode of The Diplomat

Is Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’ Factual or Farcical?

A former U.S. ambassador, an Iran expert, a Libya expert, and a former U.K. Conservative Party advisor weigh in.

An illustration shows the faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted by wavy lines of a fragmented map of Europe and Asia.
An illustration shows the faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted by wavy lines of a fragmented map of Europe and Asia.

The Battle for Eurasia

China, Russia, and their autocratic friends are leading another epic clash over the world’s largest landmass.