The life of one of the most remarkable war photographers of our time began in 1949 in a New York suburb. Young Greene randomly played small roles in movies, painted street walls, and took part in demonstrations against the war in Vietnam.

But who could possibly know that the innocent experimentation with a photo camera by his then-girlfriend would predetermine his future career. He started as a fashion photographer in Paris in 1986. For three years he led a decadent life, wasting time and money in bars, photographing girls and taking drugs. But the life he led was not the one he longed for. After three more years, major changes – the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall – made the man understand what a strong instrument his camera was.

Greene’s destiny was subsequently also related to Russia. He traveled the Eastern Bloc countries; in 1993 he was the only foreign reporter who was inside the White House in Moscow during the siege. Later, he was taking shots in the Caucasus and ended up in the middle of the Chechen war, which he observed for 10 long years, returning there over 20 times.

The new book, in addition to the photography, is a long monologue by Greene recorded by Teun van der Heijden, who conducted several interviews with the photographer and arranged them as 26 short scenes – not a sequential story, but retelling key experiences in Stanley Greene's life.

“I think you can only keep positive for eight years. If you stay at it longer than that, you turn. And not into a beautiful butterfly… We become moths. We're like moths flying to the flame. You know, sometimes your wings get singed or you just burn up. Get killed. Or you burn up inside. The drugs and the alcohol and the party and all of this is to push it away, push it away…"

Meglinskaya Gallery, in Moscow’s Winzavod Contemporary Art Centre, starting from February 24.