NEW PATH

Documentary photographer and Anthropologist Alegra Ally, travelled to the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia from October through December 2016 to study and document the Nenets way of life

ABOUT THE BOOK

Documentary photographer and Anthropologist Alegra Ally, travelled to the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia from October through December 2016 to study and document the Nenets way of life. For thousands of years indigenous Nenets have lived nomadic lifestyles herding reindeer across the Yamal Peninsula in the Russian Arctic. Lena’s family is one of 12,000 Nenets still migrating the same routes as their ancestors have done for centuries.

By following the Khudi family, New Path, opens a window to Nenets life today, highlighting how they have adjusted to modern life, how their culture evolved in light of recent resource extraction developments, globalization, climate change – factors which both enrich and threaten their collective identity.

The journey takes another dramatic turn as nine months pregnant Lena prepares for birth while the family needs to continue their annual winter migration in order to ensure the future of their herd of 800 reindeer. The birth saga thus becomes emblematic to the struggle for survival of the culture.

This book is part of a larger initiative, Wild Born Project, Documenting and revitalizing through ethical photography the traditional practices and beliefs of major life events of indigenous women such as rite of passage initiations, pregnancy, birth and postpartum rituals.
By following the Khudi family, New Path, opens a window to Nenets life today, highlighting how they have adjusted to modern life, how their culture evolved in light of recent resource extraction developments, globalization, climate change – factors which both enrich and threaten their collective identity.

Alegra Ally is an award-winning ethnographer and documentary photographer who has dedicated her life to using film, photography and writing to document the traditional practices and beliefs of indigenous women as part of The Wild Born Project.

From living in caves with the remote Meakambut tribe of Papua New Guinea, to witnessing the birthing rituals of the isolated ovaHimba people of Namibia, Ally’s work has taken her across the globe – and a long way from her native Israel.

Ally’s latest project took her to the Yamal Peninsula in Northwest Siberia to live with a family of nomadic Nenets as they follow ancient migration paths, herding reindeer for thousands of kilometres across the Arctic.