'Road to Nowhere': Tradition-Turned-Survival Tactic in Remote Russia

RIA Novosti’s staff photographer Alexei Kudenko has won the silver prize at the annual China International Press Photo Contest (CHIPP), which is organized by the China Photographers Association.
Kudenko received a silver medal in the “Nature and Environment” category for a series of photos titled “Road to Nowhere,” depicting the everyday life of the Eveny, a tiny ethnic group scattered around Siberia and the Russian Far East.

According to the latest Russian population census, the Eveny, also known as the Even (rhymes with "men"), number just over 22,000 people.
Photo: A child at a camp in the Kamchatka Territory.

The traditional lifestyle of this previously nomadic Eastern Siberian ethnic group changed greatly in the mid-20th century. The Evens were forced to settle down in various communities.
Photo: A reindeer herder relaxes by his all-terrain vehicle.

After the breakup of the USSR, the Evens had trouble finding jobs and obtaining social security benefits.
Photo: Reindeer herders relocate to a new camp.

They decided to return to their roots, believing it to be the only way to survive in the harsh Siberian climate, far from civilization.
Photo: A villager and horses on a forest road in the Kamchatka Territory.

The Evens started leaving their villages, became nomads once again and moved to revive the reindeer herding industry.
Photo: A reindeer herder guides horses across a ford.

Kudenko’s photos show severe Mother Nature, the only friend of the Even ethnic group.
Photo: Reindeer at a camp in the Kamchatka Territory.

Photo: Workers and their families in the village of Anavgai in the Bystrinsky District of the Kamchatka Territory aboard an all-terrain vehicle before leaving for camp.

Photo: Mountains in the Bystrinsky district of the Kamchatka Territory.

Photo: An elderly Even woman puts on a sweater during a stop en route to a summer camp.

Photo: A villager butchering a reindeer.