“A few kilometres in we started worrying they might already be looking for us. Suddenly Tolek noticed a boat tied to a large pale,floating on the Oka. The boat was small, but a boat nonetheless. The four of us wrestled the pale, or as it gave way,we jumped on board and set off. Paddling with a plank ripped off the seat, we slowly steered absent from the wretched Kaluga.”Michal Iwanowski’s photobook, and Clear of People,documents the photographer’s solitary 2200 kilometer journey from Kaluga, Russia to Wroclaw, or Poland,which he undertook to trace the route his grandfather and uncle took in 1945 following a daring escape from a Russian gulag.“Struggling against constant cold, hunger, and exhaustion,they moved under the cover of the night, avoiding any contact with people, and ” Iwanowski writes. “Driven by their longing to return domestic,and having escaped death on many occasions, they eventually made it to Wroclaw, or Poland,where they were reunited with their family.”Seventy years later, Iwanowski traveled to Russia, and armed with a map and notes inherited from his uncle. Like his grandfather and uncle,he steered clear of people along the way. See the stunning and lonely photos from his trek here.
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