Alvaro Laiz
The Hunt
[ EPF 2015 FINALIST ]
It was still a time when a Udege, looking at a deer, he thought he saw a deer-man (…) In those times all sort of things happened to people. Such things happened that nowadays do not. Udege tale
Udege people have lived in the Boreal Jungle for hundreds of years. Due to their close contact with Nature, their beliefs are riddled with references to supernatural forces who shall be respected.
In 1997 a Russian poacher called Markov ran into the trail of a gigantic Amur tiger. Despite the risk, Markov saw the tiger’s footprints as a promise for a better life. He shot the tiger, but was not able to kill it. Udege people believe that if someone attacks a tiger without a reason, Amba will hunt him down. Unexpectedly, Markov unleashed the Amba, the dark side of the tiger.
During the following 72 hours the animal tracked down Markov and killed him. Later investigations suggest that the tiger planned its movements with a rare mix of strategy and instinct and most importantly, with a chilling clarity of purpose: Amba was seeking for revenge.
This animistic belief constitutes the leitmotiv to experience the impact of Nature in the Udege communities across one of the last remains of shamanism: the hunter’s culture.
Bio
Master in Visual Arts at Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, my work focuses on realities usually ignored by mass media. I conceive photography as a tool to give civil society in post-conflict zones the chance to be heard, exploring the environment, costumes and traditions of those people at risk of exclusion. My photographs have been published in international media such us New York Times, Forbes, Days Japan, National Geographic, Sunday Times Magazine or British Journal of Photography among others.
I am also co-founder of ANHUA, a collective of photographers and visual artists who have decided to join to document the social, historical and contemporary. Specializing in documentary reportage and author focused its commitment issues and concerns related to human rights, anthropology, economics and environment.
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Alvaro,
Very interesting and generally well done project evoking the milieu and mindset of the area you are portraying. I have been familiar with the story of Markov and the Amba for some years now through John Vaillant’s book ‘The Tiger’ so this is not totally new territory for me. One thing that struck me in going through your photo essay is that it wavers between a dream sequence evocation and a documentary style, but does not commit itself to either. Perhaps that was your intent? Personally, I feel that a tighter edit focused on emphasizing more the dream-sequence aspects and ignoring the purely documentary would result in a more powerful and consistent essay. This is not a position I often take, but in this case some of your ‘dreamier’ images are powerful enough to sustain such a mood better if they were not tempered or mitigated by the more documentary ones which dilute their magical power. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the essay very much.
Top draw. Like Sidney I would suggest a trim for a more dreamy quality. I just brought the Tiger to read on holiday I guess I know the ending now.
Guess I got to read “The Tiger” now. Loved the essay. Made me wonder what Interior Alaska would be like with tigers.