Crimean Sojourn

After Crimea was annexed by Russia last spring, photographer Mikhail Mordasov spent more than three months in the region, over multiple trips, traveling from coast to coast and taking note of the changes he witnessed in the peninsula’s landscape and society.

A group of friends look out over a cliff in Balaklava, an ancient village that is now part of the expanded city of Sevastopol. The ruins of a Genoese fortress, positioned high on a cliff above the entrance to Balaklava Bay, is a popular tourist attraction. Recently it was the site for a Medieval Festival. Balaklava has changed hands many times during its history. An important commercial settlement named Symbolon was founded here by the Ancient Greeks.