Sagaan Sag (2012 — in progress)

Olkhon is the only inhabited island of the lake Baikal and a tourist resort center of Siberia during summer-time. The island is a sacred place for several religions, especially shamanism and Buddhism. It also used to be the territory of Neolithic people. For several winter months I recorded the everyday life of the locals, objects of ancient tradition and history; this not yet clear, symbiotic and harmonious structure of human life on an ancient territory. In December and January, Olkhon is difficult to access from the mainland. The island is separated from the world and tourists by the freeze-up. There are 50 murky days a year on Olkhon. In winter, the interaction of cold weather with the huge water space forms unique atmospheric nebulosity. It is the time when objects and people become a reflection of the modest human scale on an almost changeless sacred landscape.