«Awakening» in Moscow

The scarlet slopes Big Bogdo in Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky Reserve, Astrakhan region. May, 2011. Photo by Anton Agarkov
The scarlet slopes Big Bogdo in Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky Reserve, Astrakhan region. May, 2011. Photo by Anton Agarkov

The «Awakening» - are the series of photos, united by the theme of spring. They were made during the expedition – for the rest ten years the author, photographer and traveler Anton Agarkov have visited almost all the regions of Russia, from the Kolsky Peninsula to the Caucasus and from Kaliningrad to the Kuril Islands. Tundra, middle stripe, red tulips in the steppes of Kalmykia, bursting Baikal ice – there is multifaceted Russian spring in all its kinds on the shots of Agarkov.

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Flowering poppies on a small island in the middle of a mountain river. North Ossetia. June of 2015. Photo by Anton Agarkov
Flowering poppies on a small island in the middle of a mountain river. North Ossetia. June of 2015. Photo by Anton Agarkov

Many of the photos exhibited had been shot during the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society in national parks and reserves. Some of them cost the author a lot of time and effort. «For instance, on the top of the Big Bogdo mountain we had to contend with high winds – and that was not surprising, as a high mountain stands alone in the middle of a vast steppe, - Agarkov tells. – And in order to shot the view from the Gebi pass, we had to go along a narrow mountain trail riding, to dismount often,  to way along scree and over the cliffs, watching the sparks flying from under the hoofs of horses. At some moment one of the horses broke from the rock wall and flew down, losing laden backpacks. But fortunately, everything worked out. Compared with this, early wakeup at the dawn, shooting sunsets until midnight and climbing through the swamps looks like easy physical jerks.

There are many kinds of the steppes at the «Awakening» exhibition: these photos were made during the great expedition of the «Heirs of the steppe» project, dedicated to the nature and culture of the Central Asia. Anton Agarkov had been shooting in the in the Astrakhan region and Kalmykia and Buryatia, and Tuva, with the support of the Russian Geographical Society.

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A camel at the house of Kazakhs- shepherds. Astrakhan sands. May 2014. Photo by Anton Agarkov
A camel at the house of Kazakhs- shepherds. Astrakhan sands. May 2014. Photo by Anton Agarkov

You may see the «Awakening» exhibition in the Goncharovsky Moscow park (Rustaveli street, ow.7). The entrance is free.