This article just transcended us! Look at the courage of these women, living day and night at -50°, keeping the family warm, preparing wood, dishes, gathering their reindeer-herds counting appx. 1’000 animals. The photos taken by Allegra Aly couldn’t be more beautiful, more touchy, and the whole story we read on Maptia.com goes under the skin. We feel very greatful to be able to share these stories of people on the other side of our world, living lives 180° opposite what we are living here. Please find HERE Maptias full story with all these incredible images of their life, their daugther, the upcoming birth of their son, their work, the reindeers, their daily’s wood chopping job. Purely stunning!!!
Maptia: Offering a rare glimpse into a world that is utterly unfamiliar to most of us, we have just published a beautiful new story with photographer Alegra Ally and writer Kim Frank. Last year, Ally spent three months living with a family of traditional nomadic Nenets reindeer herders in the Siberian arctic, one of the most challenging environments on Earth. Together, Ally’s luminescent images and Kim’s expressive words share the intimate journey of Lena Khudi, a young Nenets mother in her ninth month of pregnancy on the tundra, as well as exploring the ways climate change and industrial development are threatening the Nenets’ unique way of life.
Ally: My journey across the tundra with Lena and her family was undertaken as part of Wild Born, an intimate and ethnographic project that explores and documents the traditional and ecological knowledge of indigenous women around the world throughout the many phases of motherhood: from pregnancy, birth, and the weeks following birth (postpartum), to right-of-passage rituals for young girls, as well as the way these women are experiencing cultural and climate changes.
Wild Born aims to contribute to the revitalisation of indigenous knowledge in the present day, with the goal of ensuring that the knowledge of women in these communities will continue to be valued and can be passed down from grandmothers, to mothers, to daughters, and to the generations to come. Through film, photography, and media engagements, Wild Born is contributing to cultural revitalisation, and raising awareness of the imperative issues facing these indigenous communities and mothers everywhere today.
You can learn more at the project’s website, www.wildbornproject.com, and also explore more of my work here: www.alegraally.com
Follow along on Instagram: @wildbornproject and @alegraally
