Andrei Shapran

survival School / Living face to the sea

I’ve lived and worked in the far North, in the Arctic, in the far East, in Eastern and Western Siberia, in Central Russia and Southeast Asia.

This project is about the sea hunters of Chukotka - “school of survival”. The work was carried out for one year in remote Chukchi villages (Neshkan, enurmino, Inchoun, Uelen, Laurentia, Lorino, Akkani. Expeditions-2008, 2015, 2016/17). These are the stories of the people whose way of life and traditions have been associated with marine fisheries, hunting grey whales, Pacific walruses and seals for thousands of years. Harsh life in difficult conditions and dependence on the influence of modern civilization has significantly changed life for these people. Climate change, which is particularly acute in Chukotka, has also had an impact on the lives of local peoples - Chukchi and Eskimos. My observations are a documentary account of these changes.