Dominique de Rivaz decided to go to Shoina, a fishing village of 300 inhabitants in the Russian Far North, because she saw Dmitrij Leltschuk’s photos. Once a thriving Soviet fishing port on the White Sea, the village is now half-buried under sand dunes. Over-fishing destroyed the sea bottom, which had created a natural barrier. Every day, in an attempt to save their village, the locals sweep out the sand that has been deposited by the wind and the sea.
Fascinated by this remote, forsaken spot, the two photographers spent long stretches of time there. Their images echo each other across the pages of the book. The unique northern light bathes their respective photographs of children and the elderly, of abandoned ships rusting on the beaches, of the weekly plane that is their last link to the rest of Russia, of the lighthouse that was only recently closed by official decree, and more. Texts about Shoina’s past and the daily life of its inhabitants complete the dialogue between the two photographers. For Dominique de Rivaz, Shoina is revealed as a metaphoric place within her own inner space, one that lends itself to expressing grief and memory; a place where she can explore life’s outer reaches.

A stunning book of photos from Russia’s Far North bringing together two photographers’ views of a village left to its own devices after it was swamped by sand and abandoned to the nature’s overwhelming power. Lyrical and contemplative, enhanced with several journalistic texts, this book invites us to consider both the effects of intensive exploitation of natural resources and the vastness of the world.