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Photographer Captures The Lives Of People In Yakutia, Where It Gets As Cold As -58 Fahrenheit (35 Pics)
Winter can be quite painful and annoying to many people. At least to the ones living in the places of the world that have cold temperatures and piles of snow. However, this region in Russia called Yakutia, also known as the Sakha Republic, tops it off with winters that get as cold as -50 degrees Celsius (-58 Fahrenheit). The region is located 5,300 kilometers from Moscow and has almost 1 million residents.
A Yakutian photographer named Aleksey Vasiliev decided to capture the daily lives and struggles of the Yakutian people, showing what living in such a cold region looks like and what people do to pass the time. The photographer told Bored Panda: "In the past, I was an alcoholic. When I stopped drinking, I needed to fill the void that the drink left. Then photography came to me and taught me to see life more positively."
More info: Instagram | alexey-vasilyev.com | Facebook
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We managed to get an interview with Alexey and he told us what inspired him to create these photos: "My dear Yakutia, where I was born, grew up, live. Although I used to dream of traveling the world. Yakutia seemed to me like a hole, an icy desert."
As he mentioned before, Alexey used to drink a lot of alcohol, but replaced this bad habit with art and photography: "I loved to drink a lot. When I quit drinking, it was necessary to fill the inner emptiness with something. Before, I spent all my free time in a bar with friends, and when all this was in the past, I did not know what to do. Then I opened Instagram and started shooting. Gradually, this occupation began to fascinate me more and more."
"Until 2018, I had not studied photography anywhere. I didn't care about education. It was just a hobby. But in 2018, I won a grant to study at the DocDocDoc photography school. I studied documentary photography and shot my project about Yakut cinema, 'Sakhawood,'" said Alexey when asked if he studied photography anywhere.
Alexey edits his photographs very minimally and says he's not that good with Photoshop or Lightroom: "I hate to spend my time editing my photos." For his photography, he uses a Canon 5D Mark IV and Fujifilm X100F, for anyone interested in the technical part of his photographs.
Alexey tells us more about Yakutia and what's it like living there: "In Yakutia, it's damn cold and long winters. Winter frosts reach -50 or even -60 degrees (-58 Farenheit to -76 Farenheit). This winter was really cold, so we had to live in -60 Celsius for a while. If it were not for the daily need to go out, people would prefer to stay at home all the time, drink hot tea and wait for spring. In winter, life practically stops, a dense fog during severe frosts obscures the sunlight for several weeks or months."
"On weekends, there are very few people on the street. But it is the long, cold winters that have become a kind of brand of Yakutia, which guests from foreign countries are eager to get to know. For most residents, this is a reality that you have to put up with. Despite this, not everyone wants to leave Yakutia, because we have the internet, a cinema, a museum, and even a children's library. We are not picky in search of the best benefits of large cities, we try to be content with small things and the nature that surrounds us everywhere. Nature is of great importance in the life of my people."
They're all wearing t-shirts! Either they have acclimated to frigid temperatures or that building is really well insulated.
Alexey told us more about the summers in the coldest region: "Despite the fact that winter is the brand of Yakutia, summer is the most favorite time of the year because it is short and hot. It lasts only about a month, from mid-June to mid-July, and can reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). We love to relax in nature, to walk until the morning."
Who need a professional photographer? I took almost the same picture! 20171011_1...4d396f.jpg
The photographer tells us more about himself and his life: "I'm not sure if this can be called a hobby, but I love watching TV shows (I love the Office), movies, and lying on the couch all day. I am a regular guy who once took a camera in his hands and started filming life around him. I didn't aim to become a photographer, it happened by itself. I love Yakutia, my mom, and photography. Thank you."
The photographer wanted to invite people to visit Yakutia: "Come to visit Yakutia and you will see how awesome this place is. You will never forget this trip in your life. I promise you."
What do you think of these photographs? Would you like to visit Yakutia? Tell us in the comments and don't forget to upvote your favorite picture. Also, go show some love to Alexey and his beautiful photos!
I had no idea one could put up curtains like this. I think I like it.
I bet this photo means more to the couple than those taken by foreigners at an internationally recognised building or monument. This one has heart.
You've got to admire these people living and making do with what they have.
I love these photos. I may never be able to visit, but the photos give me a hint of what I would find. Thank you
This could be a painting...one of those Dutch Masters like the Girl With a Pearl Earring...
This move is called the 96; it originally was though to have come from the move called 69 To anyone who plays COD zombies ay baby we do the 68 hehe
Note: this post originally had 97 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.
My grandfather is from Yakutsk and I visited the place once or twice, my brightest memory is in the winter, when ice is very thick, they built like an play area out of pure ice, it had slides, thrones, and blocks of ice with fish still frozen in them, as a little kid it was very exiting and its still now.
I hate the cold, but I would endure to play there. Sounds fun!
Load More Replies...This is beyond amazing to me, a born and bred Floridian. It gets below 70 and we are putting on sweaters, no joke! These people must be beyond tough! I'm full of admiration!
Living in the same sort of longitude as this city, people here aren't really comfortable of such admiration, because the cold and long winters are not exotic to us at all. We just persist through it and shovel enough snow to continue the day-to-day. On the other hand, many people here would say they admire Floridians, how they can stand with the extreme heat and lack of seasons 😛
Load More Replies...I wish Bored Panda included more context to their photos. The Instagram link is right there, they could easily do a quick translation of a few. Anyway, some of these photos were included in a Time article: Why the Film Industry Is Thriving in the Russian Wilderness https://time.com/longform/film-industry-russia-yakutia/
I'm glad they have some pictures of seasons other than winter. So much media of Russia only shows winter, and makes people think that it is always cold there. Similar with Canada. Many people don't know that there are cities in Russia and Canada where the the weather rarely goes below freezing, even in the winter. Many people don't know that there are deserts in Russia and Canada...
We have different climatic zones. For example, St Petersburh is more like Scandinavia, Moscow have dry winters and dry summers (at least before the global warming), Sochi is your regular Europe. Siberia,like Yakutia, well, they have extreme weathers.
Load More Replies...I love that these photos seem to have a hidden story of the people in them.
I can't be the only one who knows Yakutia only as one of the 42 countries on the original Risk! boardgame, next to Kamchatka?
It is beautiful in a way. In my country today it was 20 degrees Celsius in February, which sounds great, but it is kinda scary. It's not normal. I am a summer-sun person but having April weather in February is super scary, like apocalypse.
Agree with you Biljana! Absolutely Horrific to think about.. We used to have 4 seasons in Illinois, USA. summer, fall, winter & spring when I was growing up. It seems like now we only have 2. Summer & winter. It was only 30-35 ago when I remember it started changing here.
Load More Replies...I really enjoy these authentic real-life images of people living in different cultures and climates. It touches me more than the phony, plastic, social-media, influencing, reality tv, BS. Well done Pandas. You make me happy
Beautiful pictures. Part of my family is Russian. I currently live in Canada. We have the cold harsh winters. I can feel my face freeze when I look at some of the colder pics.
HEY PANDAS! Help me out. Is the theme of these pictures the harshness, sadness of their poverty-stricken lives, or is there something more I should be seeing?
It is harsh and sad, people were sent there to die and the natives were forced to abandon their nomadic ways and to enter cooperatives. But there is a lot of resilience, too. And a lot of exploitation, still.
Load More Replies...some of these pictures would make a really cool horror movie scene
My grandfather is from Yakutsk and I visited the place once or twice, my brightest memory is in the winter, when ice is very thick, they built like an play area out of pure ice, it had slides, thrones, and blocks of ice with fish still frozen in them, as a little kid it was very exiting and its still now.
I hate the cold, but I would endure to play there. Sounds fun!
Load More Replies...This is beyond amazing to me, a born and bred Floridian. It gets below 70 and we are putting on sweaters, no joke! These people must be beyond tough! I'm full of admiration!
Living in the same sort of longitude as this city, people here aren't really comfortable of such admiration, because the cold and long winters are not exotic to us at all. We just persist through it and shovel enough snow to continue the day-to-day. On the other hand, many people here would say they admire Floridians, how they can stand with the extreme heat and lack of seasons 😛
Load More Replies...I wish Bored Panda included more context to their photos. The Instagram link is right there, they could easily do a quick translation of a few. Anyway, some of these photos were included in a Time article: Why the Film Industry Is Thriving in the Russian Wilderness https://time.com/longform/film-industry-russia-yakutia/
I'm glad they have some pictures of seasons other than winter. So much media of Russia only shows winter, and makes people think that it is always cold there. Similar with Canada. Many people don't know that there are cities in Russia and Canada where the the weather rarely goes below freezing, even in the winter. Many people don't know that there are deserts in Russia and Canada...
We have different climatic zones. For example, St Petersburh is more like Scandinavia, Moscow have dry winters and dry summers (at least before the global warming), Sochi is your regular Europe. Siberia,like Yakutia, well, they have extreme weathers.
Load More Replies...I love that these photos seem to have a hidden story of the people in them.
I can't be the only one who knows Yakutia only as one of the 42 countries on the original Risk! boardgame, next to Kamchatka?
It is beautiful in a way. In my country today it was 20 degrees Celsius in February, which sounds great, but it is kinda scary. It's not normal. I am a summer-sun person but having April weather in February is super scary, like apocalypse.
Agree with you Biljana! Absolutely Horrific to think about.. We used to have 4 seasons in Illinois, USA. summer, fall, winter & spring when I was growing up. It seems like now we only have 2. Summer & winter. It was only 30-35 ago when I remember it started changing here.
Load More Replies...I really enjoy these authentic real-life images of people living in different cultures and climates. It touches me more than the phony, plastic, social-media, influencing, reality tv, BS. Well done Pandas. You make me happy
Beautiful pictures. Part of my family is Russian. I currently live in Canada. We have the cold harsh winters. I can feel my face freeze when I look at some of the colder pics.
HEY PANDAS! Help me out. Is the theme of these pictures the harshness, sadness of their poverty-stricken lives, or is there something more I should be seeing?
It is harsh and sad, people were sent there to die and the natives were forced to abandon their nomadic ways and to enter cooperatives. But there is a lot of resilience, too. And a lot of exploitation, still.
Load More Replies...some of these pictures would make a really cool horror movie scene