Daria Tuminas is the Lucie Foundation’s 2011 Professional Scholarship winner for her submission of, “Ivan and the Moon.” The Foundation awards its winners with a $5,000 grant to work on a specific project, which for Tuminas is a 12-month project focusing on the European part of Russia entitled, “No Tail No Scale.”
She has started shooting in the first city. The material from this trip will constitute the first part of the work, here is an introduction:
Chapter 1: Circle the Bite with Three Fingers*
2400s B.C.. Prince Sloven founds the city that is now called Veliky Novgorod. The prince has a son Volkhov who is a magician that takes the shape of a fierce beast – a crocodile. He lies in the river blocking the waterway. He eats refractory people and the rest he catches and drowns. Eventually, the magician is cruelly beaten and strangled in the river by demons. The body is washed ashore and pagans make a high grave. On the third day the ground of the grave falls and gulps down the body of the crocodile. The main river of the city is still called Volkhov.
The legend is known from several 17th century chronicles. There are many things that remain unclear. Why a crocodile? What could the local people know about this animal in this specific territory even in the 17th century, to say nothing of some two thousand years B.C.? And why is the river named after the character that was killing everybody in the city?
Perhaps, a ‘crocodile’ just symbolizes a scaly creature. The word does not imply any real animal, but rather a monster similar to a dragon or a snake. All of these represent aggression. What do they do? Serve devil. Steal wives and girls. Drown or kill people. Eat virgins. They are mythical villains and lovers. At the same time they are always defeated. Demons strangle them. Saints gain a victory over them. Virgins come from their body unharmed. The ground swallows them.
I feel pity for the ‘crocodile’. I do not understand anything in this story. Why is this monster supposed to be cruel initially? Why is he supposed to lie under somebody’s spear or a hoof in the end? Why is the aggressor humbled? And why do I feel regret, empathy and attraction for that creature?
I arrive in Veliky Novgorod. I am searching for a crocodile everywhere in the city. I study scaly beasts, men, cruelty, and innocence. I take biting lessons. I find a man who eats fingers. I find another one called Snake. Once, a dinosaur jumps under my feet.
* ‘Circle the Bite with Three Fingers’ is a recommendation for actions accompanying the spell against a snake bite.
Credit: Daria Tuminas
Daria Tuminas is a Russian photographer. She wrote an MA thesis about amateur photography at St.-Petersburg State University in 2010. In 2011, she graduated from Leiden University’s MA program “Film and Photographic Studies” (the Netherlands) with the thesis that questions narrative in photography. During her studies, Daria was an intern at Foam Magazine, Amsterdam. The project “Ivan and the Moon” won a number of awards, grants, and mentions (1st prize, Viewbook Photostory Competition; winner, Lucie Foundation; finalist, burn magazine grant; honorable mention, Ian Parry Scholarship, etc.), as well as was published in several magazines (HotShoe, GUP, etc.), and exhibited worldwide (Lodz Fotofetiwal; Festival Voies Off Arles; several shows in the Netherlands and in Russia). Daria is represented by Salt Images Agency and by FotoDepartament Gallery.
