12/9/2023 0 Comments Baba yaga imagesBut I guess what I was specifically looking at was whether I could find some elements of these stories in modern society today.” The characters and settings we encounter in Heitmann’s work themselves conjure a dreamlike, melancholic fairy tale of isolation and independence. “Of course, the Yenisei river could be photographed totally differently. For Heitmann the tale echoes the stories and illustrations – whether those by Ivan Bilibin or Gennady Pavlishin – she saw as a child while reconnecting with her Russian roots. Heitmann’s project title, Hiding from Baba Yaga, is inspired by the famed Slavic witch who can smell out the Russian ‘spirit’ and occupies a mystical and ambiguous role in fairy tales, living in a home that stands on chicken feet without a door or windows. With the collapse of Soviet rule, infrastructure in the area has further buckled and today many people in the region survive off the land, seemingly isolated from the rest of the world. Here, we speak to Heitmann about the project’s evolution, western clichés, nationalism, ritual, and the slowly modernizing lives she finds along the river’s banks.ĭuring the period of the Soviet Union, this region became a locus of exile and forced labor, with extensive dam-building and radioactive contamination affecting the natural ecosystems. Today, Tuva is one of the poorest and most inaccessible regions of Russia and according to Rosstat, 40 percent of the population lived below the subsistence level in 2017. In 1944, the Republic of Tuva was formally incorporated into the Soviet Union. The German-born Russian photographer spent much of her time in Tuva, the autonomous republic that lies in the southern part of Siberia, on the northwestern border of Mongolia. Nanna Heitmann’s ongoing project, Hiding From Baba Yaga, sees her traveling the lands through which the River Yenisei runs, fascinated by the remoteness and diversity of the region. The Soviets suppressed not only the native peoples, but also the river itself – with two giant dams they created lakes of almost 400km length. With Stalin’s rule, the Yenisei became a place of exile and forced labor. Old Believers, followers of the ritual practices of the pre-reform 17 th Century Eastern Orthodox Church, settled on the lonely banks of the Yenisei to escape the persecution of the Tsar and later the Soviets. Criminals, escaped serfs, apostates and adventurers joined together in wild rider associations which expanded deep into the vast, wild taiga, the subarctic forest. – Baba Yaga and the Girl with the Kind Heartįor a long time, the banks of the Yenisei were dominated by nomadic peoples before the Russians, pushed westward by desire for valuable furs, who reached the river in 1607. And Baba Yaga the witch, the bony-legged one, gnashing her teeth and screaming with rage and disappointment, finally turned round and drove away back to her little hut on hen’s legs.” Vaselisa threw the comb behind her, and the comb grew bigger and bigger, and its teeth sprouted up into a thick forest, so thick that not even Baba Yaga could force her way through. The towel grew bigger and bigger, and wetter and wetter, and soon a deep, broad river stood between the little girl and Baba Yaga. Desperately, she remembered the thin black cat’s words and threw the towel behind her on the ground. Soon she could hear the witch, Baba Yaga’s mortar bumping on the ground behind her. “Vas e lisa was running faster than she had ever run before. You can explore the whole collection here. Each poster is individually numbered with a unique Magnum Editions label that is supplied separately. These posters are now available, in limited editions of 100 unsigned, and 50 signed priced at $100 and $150 respectively. The above image is included in the new Magnum Editions Posters collection, featuring contemporary works from 23 Magnum photographers.
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