Murat Abilov

Murat Abilov has spent more than half his life perched high in the hills outside Almaty, keeping watch over the precious mountain forests. Each day begins with a ritual: checking his radio and equipment, a routine interrupted only by carving small soap animals to leave around the city, tokens of his brief presence in urban life. His eye, tuned to the nuances of decay from years of examining corroding metals at the hill station, records nature’s own artistry, even as age threatens to slow his vital work.