These Photos Of A 2-Year-Old And Her Drug-Addict Parents Started A Huge Controversy

Irina Popova/Another Family

In 2008, Russian photographer Irina Popova was taking photos by a St. Petersburg nightclub when she saw a woman urinating in the street while her daughter sat in a stroller nearby.

Then a 21-year-old college student, Popova asked the woman, Lilya, if she could take her photograph. That photo spurred a months-long photo project on the lives of the little girl, Anfisa, and her parents, Lilya and a man named Pasha.

With the family's permission, Popova stayed with them for several weeks in the single-room apartment they all shared. Lilya and Pasha both abused drugs and alcohol, and Popova saw how their carefree, destructive lifestyle affected their young daughter.

Russians view drug abuse as a huge problem, with more than 2.5 million Russians addicted to various drugs, according to government statistics cited by the Associated Press. 90% of Russia's drug abusers use heroin, which flows freely there from Afghanistan.

Popova's photographs have been collected in a book, "Another Family," but she shared a selection with us here.