I love traveling. But when I come to a new city, I realize I only see it from the outside. I can see the tourist attractions, but usually I don’t have time to learn anything about the city’s life from the inside. 

I have always wanted to have magic “keys” to open for me doors where real, unknown to me, life happens. In this project I tried to find such “keys” to Sortavala, the town  in Karelia.
The project began when I invited the town’s people to bring and to leave for the time of my residency objects dear to their hearts. Some of the objects that fell into my hands belonged to the distant past, others – to the present. It was a story behind these objects that was important for me to choose and the values of the people that they reflected. 

The words-associations were given to me by the owners of the objects themselves. I was also told stories about these objects, and many people shared their written texts. With the help of photos and texts, I tried to turn these objects into metaphors-keys to understand the people living in the city. 

Sortavala and its outskirts also became the protagonists of my photos too. I wanted to portray the unusual, austere beauty of the area and the aesthetics of the city.

I can say that my dream came true in Sortavala: the life of the city opened up to me from the inside, and I will remember the time I spent here with appreciation.

Darya Sinaiskaya, Art-residency Sortavala, december 2024