WHY, WHEN, WHERE...

Women’s loves stories, told by women.
Siberia : from the Lena’s spring to Kolyma’s confines, May to September 2005.

• Why Siberia and women ? Géraldine Bérard : Russian speaker, I have lived and travelled in Russia several times. The destinies of the women I met in Saint Petersburg, in Moscow, in Kamchatka or in Sakhaline Island profoundly touched me and helped me understand what Russia really is. Myth or reality, it seems to me that it is important to know the most unknown areas of Siberia to understand this country. Valérie François : Advertising director for seven years, passionate writer and photographer, I decided two years ago to go on an eight-months trip to South-East Asia. The women I met in these countries, their difficult lives and their courage touched me greatly. On my way back to France, I took the Trans-Siberian railway across Russia. Unfortunately, I lacked the time to stop as I would have liked, but I knew that I would come back one day. This project is the story of an encounter and a common wish to cross Siberia. We would like to share our experience and our ability to discover this land through the eyes of the women who live there. © Photo by Catherine Oriol		• When and where ? We will leave for five months from the 15th April to 30th September 2005. We will stop in three areas : • The Independent Republic of Iakoutia • The Magadan Oblast • The Independent area of Tchoukotka [see map] © Photo by Catherine Oriol • How ? We will ask the women to tell us their love story. We are not seeking the sensational story but rather to discover another Siberia, with why not, a bit of naivety. With the idea in mind that even the most difficult places to live in the world, can foster beautiful love stories. We know by experience that the Siberian people are going to be very surprised and curious to see us there. Thanks to our knowledge of their language, we will be able to reply to this curiosity. We hope that the choice of this “love” theme will create mutual understanding and an opportunity to talk about many other subjects, such as their everyday life, society and culture. • Purpose Discover Siberia through the women who live there, regardless of any social, professional or ethnic origins. We want to give them the opportunity to talk about their lives in order to obtain an objective and realistic view of their society, their expectations, ideas and the efforts to develop their society. Record and take pictures of those who will allow us to do so. When we return we will give lectures, photo exhibitions, write articles for press magazines. When we return, we hope to publish a book.