Rudya has traveled all over the world and explored some breathtaking places, from the eclectic streets of Japan to the colorful mosques of Iran to the quiet mountains of Iceland, she’s been capturing movement and stillness and using her camera to tell the stories of our land, and the different people and cultures that walk it. When asked to talk about her favorite trip so far, Rudya couldn’t name just one and reminisces about three of her most impactful adventures to date. She first takes us on a journey to the sandy stretches of Namibia, where she traveled a few years ago with a girlfriend and fellow photographer. Here she experienced the tranquility and stillness of untouched land under the harsh sun that burns your skin during the day and the magical dance of a starry night: “Driving for hours through the deserted landscape, visiting an abandoned mining town in the middle of the desert, sleeping in a tent under the Milky Way was truly unforgettable.” On our next stop, she brings us to the Grand Canyon in the US, an emotionally charged place for Rudya, as visiting
Kolmanskopp, Namibia
this incredible natural work of art brought back some memories. “The American West has a special place in my heart. My father visited Arizona in 1994 and promised we would go to the Grand Canyon one day. He passed away in 2006 without being able to make the trip, so going to the Grand Canyon was on my Bucket List. It was one of the most breathtaking and heartbreaking experiences in my life because of the unimaginable beauty and grandeur of the place combined with the bittersweet memory of my father being there and experiencing the same feelings.” For the final stop, Rudya brings us to a very special place on a trip that was one of the most intense and deeply personal experiences for the photographer. This time, Rudya returned to her roots in Ukraine, to the now abandoned city where she holds memories of a painful past. She reflects on the impact this trip had on her: “Going back to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, the ghost town of Pripyat, which my family and I were evacuated from after the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster of 1986. My photography book Prypyat mon Amour resulted from multiple trips to Prypyat with people like me who were evacuated from the area. It was a very personal and cathartic project.”
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