Lecture: "How People Live in the Arctic"

The Arctic is icy expanses and the northern lights, bold researchers, polar animals, huge icebergs, and powerful nuclear icebreakers. Here, much remains interesting and mysterious. Who and how is developing the Arctic today, and why is it important? How can you see the northern lights? What is it like to work on an icebreaker? What feelings arise when you meet a polar bear in its natural environment? How can an ordinary person visit the Arctic? Photographer Nikolai Gernet, known as «the Viking of Arctic photography,» works at the Russian Arctic National Park and often goes on expeditions across the Arctic Ocean. At a meeting at the «Prямaя речь» lecture hall, Nikolai will share stories from his journeys and answer your questions. The program includes photos and videos so you can feel the atmosphere of the Arctic. «Since childhood I dreamed of seeing a polar bear live. The closest I was—at a distance of 25 meters—from a mother bear with her cub,» Nikolai shares. Nikolai Gernet is a journalist and photographer whose work has been recognized at Russian and international competitions. Since 2013 he has worked at the Russian Arctic National Park and has taken part multiple times in expeditions to the archipelagos of Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land. He was also part of a project to clean the island of Hays from the trash of the Soviet period and looked for traces of polar researchers from the past.