Recently, I came across a photo essay in The Calvert Journal. A stunning array of earthy and breath-taking images brought alive the vanishing art of tightrope-walking in the mountain villages of Dagestan. The celebrated tradition had once flourished in this isolated region in the Caucasus but is dying out with the passing of time as younger generations are drawn away from the remote and rugged landscape to seek new lives in big cities. Some venture as far as Moscow, lured by the promise of opportunities otherwise unimaginable in this harsh terrain dominated by nature’s unforgiving force.

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