I had dreamed of reaching a nomadic camp ever since my first journey to Yamal. I wanted to witness a sea of reindeer — hundreds of animals that become a river as they move in search of fertile pastures. And, of course, I wanted to photograph a human within this living sea, telling a story of the honest and profound symbiosis of two worlds.
The protagonist of this series is Alyona, the middle daughter of the Venengo family of reindeer herders. She is an extraordinary cook and knows how to live in symbiosis with the reindeer: migrating alongside the herds, finding the best grazing lands for them, healing and caring for them. And at the same time, taking their lives — only as much as is necessary to sustain her own.
Many cultures tell myths of peoples born from animals — wolves, bears, or reindeer. In the world of folklore, there is no clear boundary between human and beast: they exist as parts of the same world, where roles may be exchanged and one form of life may become another.
These stories are not about miracles, but about the fluidity of human nature. They remind us that boundaries are not what they seem to be — between human and animal, past and future, who we once were and who we may yet become. And perhaps it is precisely this capacity for becoming — for change itself — that creates the fertile ground from which true vital force emerges, the very thing we all so hungrily seek.
