CPOY 77 Portfolio Award of Excellence: Elena Shcherbakova
A body of work that demonstrates versatility, expertise and depth and showcases a photographer's vision
Caption
Slide 46 of 48
September 12, 2021
Bakhtiyar helps his four-months old brother Ibrahim to fall asleep, while the middle brother Muhammad tinkers with the crib, Darvag, Republic of Dagestan, Russia. Bakhtiyar says that due to a trauma he does not go to the gym now although he intends to return to the training as soon as possible. In the past he won several medals for his efforts.
The mother of the family is a housewife, caring for the kids and farm animals, the father does general labour and shepherds. They have two older daughters who left to study to the city, having a dream about becoming doctors.
Darvag is a monoethnic village located in the southern part of Republic of Dagestan. The people who live there speak primarily Azerbaijani language, Russian being lingua franca for communication with other ethnicities from the neighbouring villages. Children pick up Russian in daycare or, if they did not attend it, in school. Muhammad is due to learn Russian next year, when he'll go to the first grade.