The peoples of Russia who may soon disappear

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Photographer Alexander Khimushin has been photographing small peoples around the world for over 12 years. He was born in Yakutia and spent a long time in Australia. In his photo project "The World in Faces" he shows portraits of different peoples of our planet. Now he lives in Moscow and continues his photo expeditions across Russia, and he was not limited to tourist places.

Girl from Yakutia - Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

“In 2014, sorting through numerous photographs, I saw many portraits, and it dawned on me: meeting these people were the most interesting moments in my travels,” says the nomadic photographer, as he calls himself. “After all, when you cross the border, you are faced, first of all, not with a difference in nature, but with a difference in culture and mentality.”

Nenets guy with a dog - Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

He published these first 200 portraits on the Internet under the title "The World in Faces". And then he decided to deal only with this project - he used to run a popular travel blog.

A girl from the Evenk people - Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

Alexander has been traveling in Russia since 2016. The first expeditions were in Siberia and the Far East. He does not look for heroes in advance, takes pictures of everyone who agrees, and then selects the pictures he likes most. Some works have been waiting for publication for years, and some go viral and appear on the covers of the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror and Daily Telegraph.

Orochi Girl: Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

Each trip takes from a couple of weeks to a month, because many peoples live in remote settlements and it takes time to get to them. The costumes are already chosen on the spot - the locals are happy to take the outfits and ornaments of their ancestors from the chests.

Dolgans' grandmother - Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

Alexander has so far captured representatives of about 30 small peoples of Russia and dozens of peoples around the world. Many of these peoples are officially endangered.

Nivkh Girl: Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

“I have been to places where there are less than ten people left,” says the photographer. - These are points on the map where it is difficult to reach, but when you get there, you realize that, in fact, there are no cultural artifacts left. There were situations when outfits were created specifically for shooting from old sketches."

Girl from Chuvashia - Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

Chuvashia became the first European region of Russia where Alexander organized his shooting. “I filmed both grandmothers in villages and girls in national costumes. The local museum even provided us with real 18th century silver headdresses - absolutely gorgeous! And many Chuvash, as it turned out, keep their traditional costumes from their great-grandmothers, decorated with old coins."

Man from Khakassia - Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

“Most of all in my work I like communication with people, - says Alexander, - I even try not to read the guidebooks before the trip so that there are no expectations.”

Soyot Girl: Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

“Now everyone knows me and accepts me as a relative,” says Alexander. - When I was going to Kamchatka, I did not have any clear plans, and I just wrote to several virtual acquaintances on social networks. Literally a day later, we contacted people involved in local culture and organized a trip."

The Man of the Enets People - Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

Now there are thousands of portraits in his collection, and he is not going to stop. "We have many peoples in Russia, and I want to show them all, but I understand that this is a long story, maybe for a lifetime."

Ulchi Grandma - Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

“Some of my heroes, like this grandmother, have already passed away,” says Alexander, “and with them the culture of these peoples is also leaving. And one of the global goals of my project is to draw the attention of young people to the preservation of the traditions and language of their peoples, especially far from civilization."

Alexander Khimushin / The World In Faces

To acquaint as many people as possible with the culture of small nations, Alexander organizes exhibitions in different parts of the world. In 2019, Alexander held an exhibition with great success at the UN headquarters in New York, now there is an exhibition in the ethno-center near the capital of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude (it was even visited by Stephen Segal), and next year a large exhibition is being prepared at UNESCO in Paris, dedicated to the decade of indigenous peoples.