Like Last Year's Snow - a Yiddish expression, referring to something which is not relevant anymore.
In this series, memories of the past, represented by the images of the outside world, are combined with portraits of current reality. By doing so, I tried to give the subjects’ stories a visual representation — one that could last after they are gone.
In the remote village of Yar-Sale in Northern Siberia live a group of elderly women. They were once part of a nomadic community of reindeer herders from the Nenets ethnic group. But now, in their old age, they spend most of their days in seclusion, away from nature and their community. While men are usually encouraged to remain within the migrating community and maintain their social roles, the women often face the struggles of old age alone.
It took a flight, a 60-hour train ride from Moscow, and a seven-hour bone-breaking drive along a frozen river for me to meet them.
I immersed myself in their closed community, and for days, over many cups of tea, they shared their stories, lullabies, and longings with me.
Longing for nature, gone parents and friends.
This series is part of a long-term seven-year project, during which the photographer met and photographed dozens of elders in different communities worldwide from Thailand to Cuba and from Israel to Russia while trying to create a visual interpretation of the universal sense of ageing and the longing to belong.