while working in cuba, moore became interested in the island nation’s long relationship with russia. this led him to photograph the architectural environments where russian history and politics collide in unexpected ways. between 2000 and 2004 moore made 8 trips around russia from st. petersburg to the remotest parts of the country. "the new yorker" wrote of the work, “in taking russia–its contradictions and gorgeous ruins–at face value, he captures a country’s diversity and history.” for example, moore photographed a “czarist church [that] was turned into a soap factory during the soviet period, and now has been restored into a kind of youth center.” moore remarked, “for me these kinds of subjects present a cross section through time: they address russia’s complex past, as well as the larger compacting and collapsing processes of contemporary history.” in 2004, moore published the monograph "russia beyond utopia" (chronicle books, 2004).