‘Orbita’ is a district in the southwest of the Almaty city, Kazakhstan. This area began to be developed with typical Soviet blocks in the 1970s. Today, Orbita stands as a realm unto itself, a ‘city within a city,’ because it is isolated from other city areas, bordered on one side by a river and on the other by a highway.

I often pass by Orbita on my way to and from work. As autumn and winter fog descends upon Almaty, I find myself drawn to the edges of Orbita, where Soviet edifices loom like specters in the fog. I’ve always wanted to take a stroll there and explore this area.

From January to March of 2024, I embarked on a quest — a visual odyssey dedicated to capturing the essence of Orbita in a visual diary. I started this project on the day of an earthquake in Almaty January 22nd and finished it on my birthday, March 2nd. The diary tells about the light and dark sides of Orbita: about children’s ice rinks, past murders, graffiti, space communication ground station and meetings with old friends, but mostly it talks about my perception of the surrounding world.

Welcome to Orbite.