Alegra Ally New Path A Window on Nenets Life

Courtesy of the artist Alegra Ally

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.The Khudi 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 on 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 Lena – nine months pregnant – prepares for giving 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 of the struggle for survival of the culture. Alegra Ally is a documentary photographer and anthropologist currently living in Sydney, Australia. Since 2011, Ally has dedicated her work to project Wild Born, 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. This book is part of this initiative.

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