Out of the way: series by Russian photographer Elena Anosova picks up global prizes

For her series Out of the Way, Russian photographer Elena Anosova travelled to Russia’s Extreme North to explore life in a tiny settlement once home to her ancestors. Her examination of the close relationship between humans and nature that so characterises existence here, together with an inescapable isolation, has won her international acclaim.

Hailing from the Baikal region and now based between Moscow and Irkutsk, Anosova has won first place in the Series category at the LensCulture Exposure Awards 2017, as well as second place in the Daily Life (Stories) category at this year’s World Press Photo Awards.

“Life for this part of my family [...] has not changed for centuries in their remote area surrounded with pristine wilderness. Modern civilisation penetrates slowly and in pieces; it is intricately woven into the local way of life,” Anosova explained in a statement to LensCulture about the settlement near the Nizhnyaya Tunguska River.

You can discover more about the interlinking of past and the present and the unique mythology that pervades daily life in this part of Russia’s Extreme North, as captured by Anosova, by viewing Out of the Way here.