Hunters, my Africa

As authentic as the African savannah, untouched by the safari business, profoundly unique. The animals, landscapes, sunrises and sunsets protagonists of the photographic book "Hunters" by Nadezhda Kireyeva (preface by Denis Curti; 24 ORECultura; hardback; 24 x 33 cm; 214 pages; 65 euros) accompany readers on a journey through Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa; each chapter is introduced by a text by the author. In the pictures, never casual, of the photographer and artist, the story of the contrasts between the nature of the Dark Continent and the balance, increasingly endangered, of the fauna and flora.

A selection of photographs that disconcerts the reader who is passionate about Africa, a highly personal look that goes beyond suggestion to recall the right of every living being to exist in respect and freedom. Kireyeva does not allow herself to be seduced by the exoticism of Africa, nor by the many possibilities of the new photographic techniques within the reach of every professional and amateur; the artist, like a writer, investigates, breaks down and recomposes the ancestral gestures of nature and those who animate it, and invites us to observe them in depth, to find the meaning of Creation. His desire for poetry is accompanied by reality, and he crosses deserts, forests, plateaus and wild coastlines with his camera.

From sunrise in the Okavango Delta to the silence of Laikipia, from the wildebeest dance in the Serengeti to the scorched lands of Zambia, to the deserts of Namibia and the contrasts of South Africa. Nadezhda Kireyeva is a photographer, painter and jewellery designer. She is also studying medicine with the aim of becoming a genetic doctor and creating a network of African reserves dedicated to preserving and protecting the DNA of the most fragile wild species, such as cheetahs. Radical and visionary, she wants to use science, art and photography as tools to nurture a new awareness of the relationship between humans, animals and the planet. Her work pays homage to the mysterious savannah where wild animals blend into the purity of the landscapes and the faces of the women and men who live there. Every beast or place he encounters becomes a metaphor for contemporary humanity: where the law of the strongest dominates.

Kireyeva explains that her fascination with the animal world began long ago, in her grandparents' country house, among horses, rabbits and chickens. In the direct, concrete and daily relationship with animals, she learns the circle of survival, discovers that many animals she played with ended up on her plate and thinks that 'hunting to eat' is inevitable. It will be her mother who will give her a new, fundamental lesson; with her mother, the artist learns to care for and heal wounded wild animals, birds of prey struck by man; she develops a sensitivity for each little patient, she does not want to tame them but, once they are healed, to set them free. Her father, a nature photographer - famous for his reportage in Kamčatka documenting the lives of bears - not only gave Nadezhda her first technical lessons but also passed on his experiences, reflections. Today, the photographer reveals a conscious, non-idealised view of animals, which is why her photos mark a transition between the before and after story of Africa, between the postcard image and the truth. Ancestral behaviours still endure in the universe of nature, no one can ever transform them. Kireyeva documents them to remind us all that where everything began, harmony continues.

Hunters by Nadezhda Kireyeva , 24 ORECulture, hardback; 24 x 33 cm; 214 pages; 65 euros