Being from the Caucasus, this is my most personal project. It grew from years of research, travel and conversations, but also from my own experiences and relationship with the place I come from. Through portraits, landscapes and staged photographs, I revisit folkloric characters and cultural archetypes from the Caucasus and break open the masculinity built onto them, turning them into fragile, marginal figures marked by hidden desire, guilt and suppressed emotional life.

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The Caucasus is often defined by mountain masculinity, strong traditions and deeply rooted social expectations. Soviet anti queer narratives and continuing Russian influence have become intertwined with local folklore and ideas of honour, shaping attitudes toward gender, sexuality and identity. The region can be intensely masculine, sometimes openly homophobic, and visibility often comes with risk. Yet this is only part of the story. Throughout my travels and encounters, I also found fragility, tenderness, dignity and respect. Beneath the hardened image of the Caucasian man exists a more vulnerable and complex reality that had a profound impact on me. These contradictions became central to the project.

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Rather than documenting the Caucasus from a distance, Kidnapping, Caucasian Style is my attempt to engage with its complexities from within. It is a personal exploration of heritage, masculinity and self determination, and an effort to create space for stories, identities and forms of vulnerability that are often left unseen.