Everyday Ivanovka

Ivanovka is a rural village in the Caucasus mountain foothills of northern Azerbaijan and, while based in the country for a number of years, I was captivated by its idyllic setting and unusual religious heritage. The village was founded in the 1830s by members of a Spiritual Christian sect called Molokans who'd been repressed and banished from Russia proper in tsarist times due to their non-conformism. Almost 200 years later I found the village in the midst of change, yet still with its own distinctive customs and rituals influenced by the peculiar local blend of history, religion and nature. Beekeeping was one time-honoured tradition that had been practised since the village’s foundation, while the existence of Azerbaijan's last Soviet-style collective farm, around which life still revolved, made each visit seem like stepping into a bygone era. These photos were taken over about a five-year period between 2015 and 2020.