In 2016, Mary Gelman started to take pictures of the unique social village "Svetlana" in Russia, Leningrad Oblast. This Camphill allows people with mental differences to live free and be supported by tutors and volunteers. This place is not a boarding school or a clinic. No one is controlled and the doors are always opened. Residents don’t draw a line between "healthy" — "unhealthy", "normal" – "abnormal". Everyone is valued as an individual. Capabilities and abilities are the only things that matter. Residents believe in the person you can become in spite of your past time.

 

This project was awarded Leica Oskar Barnack Award Newcome in 2018 and exhibited in Europe and USA.

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Pictures from this project are available in
90x60 (500$), 70x50 (300$), 40x30 (200$)

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+ $ for transportation

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Only signed prints

We negotiate in advance the final details and sizes