honorable mention
Hossein Fardinfard georgia
title
Far from home
Molokans have a good relationship with Georgians. Their primary language is Russian. Their leader is a woman called Maria. After the Soviet Union collapse, Molocans left Davitiani because of infrastructural problems and economic crisis. Their livelihood is through agriculture and cattle-herding with low income. Most of them cannot go to Russia to visit their children because of access to visa in quite a hard way.
Doukhobors live in Gorelovka where two ethnic groups live together and can not stands with each other; Muslim Georgians, and Christian Armenians. Their populations have decreased. They developed and supported their life through agriculture and cattle-herding. After the Soviet Union collapsed, they did not receive any attention from the government; therefore they left the village and Armenians bought most of their houses. Doukhobors have a strict living condition in Georgia such as cold winters, no access to sweet water, gas and demolished road. Most of them have to work in Armenians land.
While living in Georgia and working in a media art studio, I became interested in photography. Initially, I began taking pictures of my surroundings with my phone’s camera. After a while, I pursued the field of photography with a professional camera, and with my brother’s support, I began to learn and advance in this profession in a self-instructive manner. Since I consider the world around me from a realistic perspective, my photography subjects are affected by this viewpoint. Hence, first in the context of street photography and portraits and later in documentary photography, I began to record the grief, happiness, social actions, and problems in my surrounding community. Within two years of entering the world of professional photography, I have attained several awards and achievements in various international competitions, including the International Photography Award (IPA), Monochrome Photography Awards, The Independent Photographer, ND awards, Monovisions Photography Awards, All About Photo Awards, and more. Moreover, I have exhibited my work in several countries, including the United States, Greece, Germany, and Hungry.
I am currently working on several art-photography combination projects in a modern style, which are slightly different from my previous works.
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entry description
"Far from home" is a portrait series of the two communities; Russian Molokans and Doukhobors. Two small community with similar beliefs and story in two different tiny villages in the country of Georgia. Mokans and Dukhobors are Russians sect who formed Molokans in the 17th century. In the mid-1800s, Russia expelled them; therefore they moved to Armenia, then finally to Georgia and Azerbaijan. Nowadays most of their olds live in Davitaiani or Gravofka, and their Youngs have moved to Russia for a better life and job opportunities. The other Russian sect, Doukhobors formed in the 1600s and 1700s. Since they became a treat for the government, in 1839, Russia exiled their followers. Some of them moved to Canada, and the others went to Ninotsminda, in Georgia. Their villages called Gorelovka which most of Doukhobors are living there.Molokans have a good relationship with Georgians. Their primary language is Russian. Their leader is a woman called Maria. After the Soviet Union collapse, Molocans left Davitiani because of infrastructural problems and economic crisis. Their livelihood is through agriculture and cattle-herding with low income. Most of them cannot go to Russia to visit their children because of access to visa in quite a hard way.
Doukhobors live in Gorelovka where two ethnic groups live together and can not stands with each other; Muslim Georgians, and Christian Armenians. Their populations have decreased. They developed and supported their life through agriculture and cattle-herding. After the Soviet Union collapsed, they did not receive any attention from the government; therefore they left the village and Armenians bought most of their houses. Doukhobors have a strict living condition in Georgia such as cold winters, no access to sweet water, gas and demolished road. Most of them have to work in Armenians land.
about the photographer
I was born in 1985 in Isfahan, Iran. After graduating from university in Tehran with an M.Sc degree in Geomorphology as well as a strong education in IT, I emigrated to the UAE, and after a short time, I resettled in the Caucasus region of Georgia, where I currently reside.While living in Georgia and working in a media art studio, I became interested in photography. Initially, I began taking pictures of my surroundings with my phone’s camera. After a while, I pursued the field of photography with a professional camera, and with my brother’s support, I began to learn and advance in this profession in a self-instructive manner. Since I consider the world around me from a realistic perspective, my photography subjects are affected by this viewpoint. Hence, first in the context of street photography and portraits and later in documentary photography, I began to record the grief, happiness, social actions, and problems in my surrounding community. Within two years of entering the world of professional photography, I have attained several awards and achievements in various international competitions, including the International Photography Award (IPA), Monochrome Photography Awards, The Independent Photographer, ND awards, Monovisions Photography Awards, All About Photo Awards, and more. Moreover, I have exhibited my work in several countries, including the United States, Greece, Germany, and Hungry.
I am currently working on several art-photography combination projects in a modern style, which are slightly different from my previous works.
back to gallery