The Calling Of The Steppes
The Calling of The Steppes is an ongoing project by Alina Bobrova, shot between 2021 and 2024. The project was created in between the United States and Kazakhstan, two countries that played a significant role in Alina’s life and career. The main themes that Alina explores with this work deal with the deep connection people living in the Steppe have to nature, which distinguishes their character and affects their being, especially when compared to people living in big cities. As Alina explains, “I found that people who live in places that are surrounded by wilderness tend to have more unique human qualities.”
Another theme stems from personal experience of moving from country to country as a kid and the need to define the concept of home. The tension between being an insider and outsider, or as Alina suggests, an observer and a participant in a certain culture, is rooted in this experience. To get closer to the realization and the meaning behind these experiences, Alina uses medium and large formats to gain control over the smallest of nuances that become part of the frame while also creating a connection with natural elements through the feelings of nostalgia, deeply rooted understanding of what living in Steppe entails.
Alina Bobrova is a multidisciplinary artist and a fine art photographer. She was born in Kazakhstan and currently lives in New York. Alina graduated from the International Center of Photography in New York and received a BFA from Parsons School of Design.
‘My work alternates between long-term fine art and documentary photography projects, reflecting on the experience of living between two places and cultures.’
What is the central theme you pursue with your photography through your unique approach and experiences you bring into the projects?
My work alternates between long-term fine art and documentary photography projects, reflecting on the experience of living between two places and cultures. The Calling of The Steppes is an ongoing poetic documentary project that contemplates daily life in its deepest form. The project encompasses three years of work, shot between 2021 and 2024. The photographs were shot primarily between the United States, where I live, and Kazakhstan, where I am from. The Calling of The Steppes explores the moments of vulnerability and personal growth experienced throughout a period of transition.
‘I found that people who live in places that are surrounded by wilderness tend to have more unique human qualities than people who never left the big city.’
What have you discovered about yourself in the process of working on this project?
The power I feel when engaging with nature compared to meeting an individual person was reaffirmed for me during this process. I found that people who live in places that are surrounded by wilderness tend to have more unique human qualities than people who never left the big city. People outside of the 'center' have more to share with the world. They are soulful, wise, and kind. That’s something that I always come back to.
‘To me, the smell of the steppe is what I associate with home.’
What does steppe (“one of the vast usually level and treeless tracts in southeastern Europe or Asia,” definition by Merriam-Webster) entail for you from the emotional and visual perspectives?
Steppe is the largest expanse of semi-desert grassland in the world, dotted with wetlands stretching thousands of miles in every direction; a true wilderness. To me, the smell of the steppe is what I associate with home. The breeze carries the herbal aroma of wormwood, rough and sweet. Soil cracked by the heat. Stones heated by the sun. Steppe is watching the fluffy white cumulus clouds floating serenely in the empty skies, the wild tulips moving with the wind, eagles soaring the thermals overhead while skylark song fills the air.
‘As a third culture kid, you have no choice but to create your own culture: a mix of your parents and the new one you are living in.’
The project, The Calling Of The Steppes, fills a viewer with a sense of nostalgia, longing for places where one might have never been, formed through the connection to nature, the pastoral views, and the people who live a different kind of life when compared to those in the big cities. Could you walk us through your work on the project, traveling the countries and meeting people?
I was born into an expatriate artistic family. I grew up in a series of postings that took the family from Central Asia to Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and North America. My upbringing has set me up to be flexible and resilient. But that change does create a sense of rootlessness and restlessness, a sense of no belonging. Third culture kids are citizens of everywhere and nowhere. As a third culture kid, you have no choice but to create your own culture: a mix of your parents and the new one you are living in. You become an observer rather than a participant. For example, I am a very calm, humble, and quiet person, especially in social settings. So, I find that the process of making photographs allows me to become a participant and heighten my senses, which boosts my productivity and creativity.
‘All of my photographs were shot either on medium or large format film because I like to be in control of everything that happens in and out of the frame.’
You work with both medium and large format film. In what way do they add to the story you are creating, and what is your preferred approach to working with different formats?
Because my family members are artists, it was important to my parents that my sister and I go through lifelong art training. My sister and I graduated from art-oriented kindergartens, academies, and universities. My foundation is in classical painting and film from which I consciously decided to transition into photography. I have spent the last several years since then working as a professional photographer.
As I mentioned earlier, I’m an observer rather than a participant. I tend toward thinking, caution, circumspection, and reticence. That’s why I prefer slow photography. All of my photographs were shot either on medium or large format film because I like to be in control of everything that happens in and out of the frame. I care a lot about the process and the details. There are simply so many things that a large/medium format photographer can control that a small format photographer simply cannot. I like horizontal photographs because I love capturing a sense of groundness. I take many landscape photographs, which can set the stage for a story and place. I compare them to opening scenes in films.
Another key aspect of my process is spending a significant amount of time on the pre-production and composition of a shot. Because my artistic practice spans a wide range of media, I really enjoy pairing my photographs with music that my musician friends and I collaborate on. In the end, it all comes together beautifully, almost as a movie. The only difference in the outcome is that the viewer is looking at still images rather than moving ones, leaving more room for interpretation.
