Permafrost, this cold is no longer eternal

• Prize
  Shortlist
• Photographer
  Natalya Saprunova, France
• Date of Photograph
  2022-2024
• Category
  Asia
• Studio
  Natalya Saprunova Photographe
• Website
  https://natalyasaprunova.myportfolio.com/work
• Instagram
  @natalya.saprunova

Permafrost—ground frozen for millennia—is rapidly thawing due to climate change. It spans about 25 million km², or 20% of Earth’s land surface, mainly across Siberia and the Arctic. In these regions, home to rich Indigenous cultures, thawing leads to ground collapse, floods, and ecosystem disruption. Scientists monitor soil, ice, vegetation, and released contaminants. In Oriental Siberia, Yakutia holds one of the oldest permafrost zones. Rich in ancient organic matter, it’s now threatened by warming, wildfires, and extreme weather, accelerating thaw and climate instability.

Natalya Saprunova is a documentary photographer based in Paris, originally from Arctic Russia. She began as a photojournalist in 2007 while studying to become a French teacher. After moving to France in 2008, she worked in marketing before returning to photography in 2016. A graduate in Documentary Photojournalism from EMI-CFD Paris in 2020, she focuses on identity, environment, climate change, youth, femininity, and spirituality. Since 2016, she has also taught photography at Graine de photographe in Paris.

Awards Canon Woman Photojournalist grant winner at Visa Pour l'image, UNICEF Photo of the Year prize, Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award winner, Lucie Foundation award, Ann Lesley BarTur Photo Award Judges' Choice, LensCulture Critics' Choice, Zeke SDN award winner, Rencontres Photographiques de Boulogne-Billancourt winner