Zachem! (Why!)

Zachem (From the Multitran online dictionary: зачем [phonetically: Zachem] нареч. why; wherefore; for what; what for?; whereto) is the most prolific writer in my neighborhood (downtown Moscow around Pushkin Square), but his reach extends far beyond that as well.

In an earlier post on my other blog, Scraps of Moscow, I pontificated on the significance of this handle and noted that one could spend lots of time trying to track down all of the Zachem tags in my area. The photos below were all chance encounters with Zachem - I didn't seek the tag out, just happened to have a camera with me while out and about. The first 3 photos are from St. Petersburg (told you this guy gets around) and the rest are from Moscow:


Zachem among other graffiti in courtyard off #61 Liteiny,
SPB, Feb. 13, 12:53pm.


Zachem on Zhukovskogo St., SPB, 2:42pm, Feb. 13.


Zachem (atop a yellow sign directing people to a beauty salon) on
Zhukovskogo St. in SPB, 2:43pm, March 3.


Zachem on window on Tverskoi Bul'var, 8:38pm, Feb. 22.


Zachem on wall with Russian flag flapping above, on
Tverskoi Bul'var, 8:35pm, Feb. 22.


Zachem graffito next to grocery store window on Sadovo-Triumfal'naya St.,
4:31pm, Feb. 25.


Zachem on an abandoned building in the Patriarch's
Ponds area, 6:27pm, Feb. 26.


Zachem and others on an old ATM-type machine in the
entrance hall to the Tverskaya and Pushkinskaya
metro stations, 9:42am, Feb. 27.


Zachem in Maly Palashevsky Lane just off of Tverskaya
Street, 2:34pm, Feb. 27.


Zachem and others on store door on Tverskaya St., 9:59am,
March 2.


Zachem (in black - and a different script than usual) on a theater ticket
kiosk on Tverskaya St., 9:10am, March 4.


Zachem on netting surrounding a building undergoing
renovation at the corner of Rozhdestvenka and Kuznetsky
Most Sts., 5:17pm, March 6.


Zachem and others in one of the archways from Rozhdestvenka St. leading
to the entrance to the Kuznetsky Most metro station, 5:50pm, March 6.


Zachem (multiple times) and others on the Moscow News kiosk on Pushkin
Square, 4:31pm, March 8.


Zachem with Women's Day flower sellers, seen as one
descends the stairs into the underground passageway
underneath Pushkin Square, 5:01pm, March 8.

Note: all photos are from 2005; the first 3 are from St. Petersburg, and the rest are from Moscow.