In “People of Moscow” the Turkish origin Ahmet Sel does the portrait of those he met and appreciated throughout his reports or either by chance from his meetings in the Russian capital where he spent 10 years (1990-2000) as a correspondant of the french cultural channel Arte and of the well-known photo agency Sipa. During the last period of his journey in Moscow which corresponds to more than a year, Ahmet Sel met once again these famous and anonymous characters in order to say goodbye. His farewells took the shape of black and white portraits of his heros‚ everyday life, of his friends or of his mere acquaintances. More than fifty portraits where you can admire worldwide known artists such as the artistic directors Iouri Lioubimov, Anatoli Vassiliev, the writers Vassili Axionov or Alexandre Zinoviev…but mostly portraits of ordinary people : an art collector, a scientific, a tamer, a young deputy, a lorry driver, an accordion-player, a house cleaner, a veteran of Chechnya. Most of these Muscovite posed straight forward into the camera. They looked mostly calm but very solemn. “They offered him the image of this farewell together with their memories of all these past years “, writes Jean-Pierre Thibaudat, in the preface of the book dedicated to Ahmet Sel’s work. “Each of the portraits” he follows, “reveals the hidden part of Moscou, the private life of its inhabitants. The other side of the picture of Moscow”. Published by Catleya Editions, Paris 2001. Moskova İnsanları YKY 2004.