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A Bowlful Of Kumis
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A Bowlful of Kumis is a photographic journey beginning in the Altai Republic and unfolding across Kyrgyzstan: a collection of encounters set against the background of myth, geopolitics, and the everyday. It documents a region shaped by post-Soviet transition, where history, identity, and landscape remain deeply entangled. The work traces how questions of belonging and home continue to evolve within the overlapping cultural and political realities of post-colonial space.
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Speaking Russian allowed photographer Alexander Komenda to move beyond the distance of the observer; he was welcomed as a guest, a friend who happened to carry a camera. This trust shaped the rhythm of the work, one built on dialogue, understanding, and friendship.
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Structured chronologically and geographically through six chapters, the story follows a path from Altai, the mythic origin of the Kyrgyz people, to the social and political realities of contemporary Kyrgyzstan. Along the way, it reflects on identity, migration, and the resilience of ordinary life within a shifting geopolitical landscape, where the act of looking becomes a way to understand both place and self.
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A Bowlful of Kumis will be published by Studio Samadi in 2026.