🎙️ Welcome to Ep. #62 of The Urbanaut Podcast, presented in collaboration with Urbanautica.com.

In this captivating episode, we sit down with Aleksey Kondratyev, an artist-photographer whose work explores the intersections of globalization, labor, and identity. From the frozen landscapes of Kazakhstan’s ice fishers to the hidden labor force of American construction workers, Aleksey’s photography brings attention to unseen worlds.

About Our Guest: Aleksey Kondratyev

Born in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and later immigrating to Detroit, Aleksey’s work is shaped by his personal history of migration and cultural hybridity. He holds an MFA from UCLA and has exhibited internationally at venues like the Museum of Contemporary Art Rome, the Benaki Museum in Athens, and the Berlin Center for Contemporary Art. His projects, including Ice Fishers, Auto, and Worker, have been featured in National Geographic, The New York Times, and The Financial Times.

Tune in to this episode to:

- Explore Aleksey’s journey in photography and how he found his artistic voice.

- Learn about the Ice Fishers project, which documents Kazakh fishers using discarded plastic materials as makeshift survival shelters.

- Understand the economic and social dynamics behind the global trade of used cars in the Auto project.

- Discuss the invisible workforce behind modern cities in his Worker series.

- Hear insights on balancing research and intuition in creative work.

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EPISODE LINKS

Website: alekseykondratyev.com | Instagram: @aleksey.kondratyev

OUTLINE:

0:00 - Coming Up..

2:21 - Introduction to Aleksey Kondratyev

25:37 - Discovering the Ice Fishers project

28:30 - The extreme conditions of ice fishing

1:13:28 - Transition to Auto: A personal connection

1:15:26 - The global trade of wrecked cars

1:31:19 - The Worker series: Capturing invisible labor

1:33:40 - The role of anonymity in photography

1:24:11 - The future of auto shops & changing labor markets

1:54:55 - Trusting intuition over research

1:53:41 - Final thoughts & advice for young photographers

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