CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 9/19/2020

Savage nature and intimate domesticity in 'Michael Turek: Siberia'

Featured spreads are from photographer Michael Turek's new book, Siberia. Made over three years, the first of which was spent traveling the region with The Lost Pianos of Siberia author Sophy Roberts, the photographs in this collection side-step the clichés of simply being "cold, cruel, impenetrable, abandoned, scored with desperate romance and ill-fated rebellions," she writes. Turek avoids forming conclusions, allowing for photographs that are "totally without pretension. They linger on the pause between words, the silence of a snowstorm and the stillness between trees… Turek’s images create the space for us to question our fixed assumptions about what Siberia is and isn’t, was and wasn’t, then and now. Above all, his work reflects an elusive region with accuracy and profound sensitivity." She concludes, "I was there for nearly every step of Turek’s journey. His Siberia is not always the same Siberia I saw—but the broad themes are shared: the dark and light, surprise and predictability, savage nature and intimate domesticity."