Alexey Vasilyev —My Dear Yakutia

I was born and currently live in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). This is the largest region in Russia, and the coldest point on the planet. In the northern part of the cold pole - Oimyakon village - the thermometer can easily drop to -60°C. I am lucky to live towards the South, in Yakutsk, where the average temperature in winter is 40-45°C. But I still dream of leaving. Life in a city with a population of just over 300,000, albeit the capital of Yakutia, seems unbearably boring.

Several years went by. I discovered photography. I no longer dream of running away from here, but life still seems a bit boring. The only difference is that I began to enjoy this life, capturing it with my camera.

Yakutia is a completely different world, with different conditions for existence. Winter has really become a brand that attracts tourists from all over the world: they are interested in how people live in a region with such a harsh climate and a population density of 1 person per 3 square kilometers. My photos are an attempt to show how we live - all year round, and not just in winter.

Alexey Vasilyev was born in 1985 in the coldest region of Russia - Yakutia, where the temperature can reach the grade mark -60 C°.  In 2008 he graduated from the philological faculty of the Yakut state University and from 2010 to 2019 he worked at the children's republican newspaper "The Youth of the North". Since 2017 he has been a member of the Russian Union of photographers. In 2018 he entered the school of modern photography in St. Petersburg "Dokdokdok". 

In his documentary works he focuses on the daily life research of people in the far North and their national identity in the global world.   Features of his work have been published in the The Guardian, National Geographic (Russia), Wired, Calvert Journal, Meduza, It's Nice That, Takie Dela (Russia), Lenta.ru (Russia), LensCulture, MoscowTimes, MyModernMet and etc.

For more information, please contact Alexey Vasilyev at: lucana85@gmail.com or visit: alexey-vasilyev.com
Interview with Alexey Vasilyev here