Khakassia



Khakassia

Name: Constantine Gulyaev

Age: 34

Profession: Photographer

City/Region: Republic of Khakassia

How long have you been doing photography? What style or genre most interests you? 

I have been doing photography since 2012. I am most interested in photojournalism and environmental portraiture, visual storytelling about people, places and events.

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for?  

Khakassia is a subject of the Russian Federation and is located in southern Siberia. It is blessed with natural beauty (steppes, mountains, lakes, caverns), monuments of ancient culture that are thought to be thousands of years old, the richness of Khakassian national culture and customs, and shamanism. Esoteric Tourism has become extremely popular here of late. Khakassia has many so-called “places of power,” where there is a strong and variegated concentration of energy forces, such that people experience a wide range of unusual reactions, from deep meditation to conditions of unfounded happiness.

What is something about your city that only locals would know?

Locals call Khakassia "Warm Siberia." The number of sunny days in the republic far exceed those in neighboring regions. What is more, the Minusinsk Depression, located in Khakassia, is protected from winds by the Western and Eastern Sayana mountain ranges, as well as by the Kuznestk Alatau, which creates beneficial conditions for all sorts of life.

Shamanism has always played and continues to play an important role in the life of Khakassian society. They conduct ceremonies, lead craft groups, treat illnesses, bring the souls of unborn children to be with their countrymen, and accompany the souls of the deceased to the other world. If in Moscow millions of rubles are spent to chase off clouds from coming holidays, in Khakassia local politicians merely turn to the shamans for help in guaranteeing better weather.

According to ancient tradition, Khakass men grow their hair long and braid it in a tight braid, a kichege, which symbolizes their close bond with the heavens, the spiritual world of Tengri [The main god of the Turkic pantheon, considered to be the chief god who created all things, and which has been worshiped by Central Asian and Eastern European people’s since the sixth century, but which may have roots in China dating back ten centuries prior.]

Which places or sites are a must for someone to see if they visit your city?

Historical and natural sights: the lake in Shirinsky Rayon, the Sunduk mountain rang, Tiyum Depression, Caverns, Petroglyphs in various regions of Khakassia.

Abakan is the capital of Khakassia. The city is young (founded in 1932) and similar to many other Soviet cities. But there are things to see. For example the Khakass Republic Philharmonic, in order to experience Khakass national dances (the ensembles «Кÿн сузы» and «Солнечный луч») and music (the ensembles «Унгер» - «Созвездие»). Abakan also has tourism sites conveniently located near the city:

  • Askiz Rayon, where the Khakass people predominate, and site of the stone sculpture known as “Улуг Хуртуях тас” (Great Old Woman Stone).
  • Sayano-Shushensky Hydroelectric Station and the picturesque road leading to it along the Yenisey River.
  • Mount Kunya (Sun Mountain), with its soul piercing views of the Krasnoyarsk Sea.
  • The great Salbyk Kurgan and Oglakhty National Park.

It is also easy to get to several sites in neighboring Krasnoyarsk Krai from Abakan: Shushenskoye (the town where Lenin was exiled and now home to an annual festival of ethnic music), the city of Minusinsk, Mount Tepsey (a mountain along the Yenisey river that is considered sacred by the Khakass).

Anything else you would like to add?

The natural landscape in Khakassia surprises with its scale, variety and primordial state. Here, you can sense the true power of nature and the richness of ancient history. Being a photographer and visual storyteller, I want to return to these places again and again...

Do you have a website? www.constantinegulyaev.com



Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955