I was born in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, Russia, where I have spent my whole life. This is where I spent my childhood, where I changed and grew up. The dear things that I have lost, now this land keeps in itself, forever being close to me.

It is important to me to have a place to shelter in a storm, to feel calm and safe. When we are young, attracted by the new and unknown, we often dream of leaving our native land, because everything seems too old and too familiar. This was the case with me, but as I grew older, this relationship changed, and now I return more and more often in my thoughts and in reality to the place where I spent my childhood, for protection and support.

We sprout like trees in the soil, taking root, being wrapped more tightly every day by memories and reflexion, alone and together with our families, we become part of the area, finding in ourselves the traces of our surroundings, leaving our traces around us. I can wander for hours with my camera among these nooks and crannies that I know so well from my childhood and recognize them anew. I think I’ve learned to feel the warmth that a sense of home can give. It goes through a complex and contradictory transformation from stifling denial to mature acceptance and comfort. I feel this connection physically and I don’t want to interrupt it anymore, I accept it and keep looking around.

This series of images is a dialog with myself through observation, a response to my surroundings and an attempt to find my place among the infinite.
an attempt to find my place among the endless interconnections of my native land, its nature, family and memory.