Instead of gazing longingly at posters of Zayn from One Direction or plastering their bedrooms with images of shirtless Justin Bieber (people do that, I think), the Russian teens in Bela Doka’s photo series have a different sort of heartthrob.
“Fan Club Putin” is a collection of intimate portraits of the college-age men and women who worship Vladimir Putin like he’s Harry Styles. Check out the photos of teens wearing Putin T-shirts, kissing the television screen while Putin is giving an address, snuggling next to a Putin blanket, and more.
While many teens cite admiration of Putin’s accomplishments and politics as the reason for their idol worship, some women tell Doka that Putin is more generally their ideal man — “someone they’d want their future husband to resemble.” I mean, just look at the man shirtless on horseback.
