The scenery is magnificent. The scale and drama that make up the vista of crags, crevices and clouds, breathtaking. Yet the panorama in this photograph is a stage for one moment, or as Borlakov describes it 'one sentence' in any number of stories. While nature continues timelessly all around, seven men, mere dots in this vast landscape, pull determinedly on a rope. Whether they are rescuing someone, lowering one of their number, or pulling a hidden load is unclear. If this were a film the result of their endeavours might appear in the next frame, but instead the sentence they write remains open.
There are six other images in this series, all shot in the Caucasus Mountain Range in Russia near the Georgian border. The composition of the land is strikingly different in each one, as are the acts these backdrops both conceal and reveal. In the corner of one image, two men batter something with a rock; in another, a bundle is thrown from the trunk of a car; in the next, a man is elevated by two white geese; eight women walk in line across a plateau; uniformed men undress; a group of boys stand tentatively looking over a cliff edge. The imagination runs riot. Amidst this awesome sweep of nature, even the most microscopic human presence demands explanation, a before and after. Is the body from the car the same one that was beaten and is here being pulled back to be identified?
In a place of Greek legend, the mountains where Prometheus was chained to a rock, myths are easily born and tales of the immortal, heroes and tortured soles can be infinitely cited. So while Biblical imagery (a pilgrimage, a crucifixion and resurrection) appear obvious in their implication, references to political turmoil, corruption and racial hatred can just as easily be applied. In the end, Borlakov's works reference all and none of these sources and he simply lets the blind lead the blind and the sighted close their eyes.
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