Alina Rudya
I've been binge watching Dark Tourist on Netflix. The comedy keeps me entertained while partially taming my desire to get in the car and just drive. With my particular mood, I find it fitting to introduce travel and documentary photographer, Alina Rudya.
Ukrainian born photographer, now residing in Berlin, Rudya has photographed cities and countries ranging from Kiev, Moldova to parks in Nambia. Her images are not based on tourist attractions, but the grit and mood of the land and its people. Her documentary style of travel introduces us to the off beat of what each country has to offer in a beautifully welcoming way. Whether it be inviting hot springs or a wasteland, Rudya gives us each scene in a richly colored image. The people she photographs pose for her, staring straight into her camera. This is difficult to do, not only as a photographer, but as the subject. Yet, Rudya captures them as if they've known each other all along.
And since I just completed the Dark Tourist on Fukishima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, and watched as tourist exposed themselves to high levels of radiation, I find myself particularly fascinated with Rudya's series on the villages surrounding Chernobyl, titled "All is in the Past." Rudya describes this documentary series as a "poetic essay." And indeed it is.
© Alina Rudya