Everyday Life of Dalmatovo Monastery. A Photo Gallery

Photographs of everyday obediences of the monks and novices of the Holy Dormition Dalmatovo Monastery in Russia’s Kurgan region (western Siberia) were taken over a period of many years. The Russian photographer Andrei Khitailenko recounts, “I have always been interested in seeing and photographing the monastery’s everyday life. How monks and monastery workers bake bread, fish, work in the vegetable garden, prepare charcoal and other things necessary for serving the Divine Liturgy, look after the monastery livestock and apiary. My work met the full understanding of the head of the monastery, Abbot Varnava. As a result a series of pictures was created which will certainly be continued.”

Some of the photographs were displayed at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow at a photo exhibition dedicated to the annual Christmas Readings forum, while some were published in the Polish album, “The Colors of Russian Orthodoxy”. A series of pictures from the monastery’s settlement was included in the FotoSoyuz (Photo Union) national gallery.

All photos below are by Andrei Khitailenko:

At the monastery church

At the monastery church

The monastery’s father superior, Abbot Varnava

The monastery’s father superior, Abbot Varnava

Volodya, a stoker

Volodya, a stoker

Ryasophore Monk Innocent

Ryasophore Monk Innocent

The monastery’s carpenter

The monastery’s carpenter

Father Herman

Father Herman

The prosphora bakery

The prosphora bakery

With green onions

With green onions

The fishermen

The fishermen

A text message

A text message

Let me introduce myself

Let me introduce myself

Making charcoal

The monastery’s settlement

Father Avdy and monastery workers

Father Avdy and monastery workers

Father Joachim

Father Joachim

A smoker (device used in bee-keeping)

A smoker (device used in bee-keeping)

Alexander, a monastery worker

Alexander, a monastery worker

On the monastery’s pasture

On the monastery’s pasture

A Russian cowboy

A Russian cowboy

In the pasture

In the pasture

About the author

Andrei Khitailenko is a photographer from the town of Shadrinsk in the Kurgan region, a member of the Russian Union of Photographic Artists, a member of the “Fotolain”, “Fotomoment”, “Fotodom” clubs as well as other Russian photographers’ associations.

Andrei was twice among the winners of the “Best of Russia” photo project in 2010 and 2012 respectively. He twice became a winner in the “Adobeortophoto” Photography Competition (Romania) in 2011 and 2012 respectively. He was a finalist in the “Berega 2010” and “Berega 2012” International Photo Competitions, of the “Faith in Russia 2012” Photo Competition. He was among the winners of the “FotoSoyuz 2011” Photography Contest; he many times took part in city, regional and national Russian photo exhibitions. Andrei has written for international magazines. In 2011 he received a special award from The Russian Photo Magazine, in 2013 won the “Sacred and Precious Things in Russia” All-Russian Photo Contest, and the National Geographic (Russia) magazine’s “Faces of Earth” International Photography Competition.

Translation by Dimitry Lapa

Comments
Roberta Hubbard3/26/2018 7:43 am
These pictures are just beautiful. Hard working, humble men, and life in the great outdoors of Russia. I love the pictures with the animals too, they are well cared for and you can see the trust and care in their eyes. Thank you very much for sharing with us. God bless you all.
Terry D Hartman12/1/2017 11:34 pm
Greetings!

I want to say thank you for the photographs. It made an excellent afternoon break for me. I would love to visit.

God bless you in all that you do.
Barnabas (Terry)
Јадранка6/13/2017 7:06 pm
Изузетне фотографије.
Њихова лепота и садржајност су дошле до изражаја захваљујући пре свега црно/белој техници.
Скидам капу аутору.
Свако Вам добро од Господа желим.

Јадранка,
Србија
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