This past year, I traveled through Eurasia and Eastern Europe, beginning my project Off-Season. Before leaving for Georgia, my mom shared that our ancestors had traveled through Georgia and Armenia before settling in Serbia. As I journeyed through these landscapes, I reflected on what we overlook when we focus too much on preplanning. Should we visit places at the “wrong time” to experience them more authentically?
In Georgia, I was encouraged to visit Kazbegi, a remote mountain town near the Russian border. The area carries a heavy geopolitical weight, with ongoing tensions due to Russia’s military presence in Georgia. The mood in Kazbegi was somber, and as I navigated the winding roads through the Caucasus Mountains, I questioned whether I had made a mistake traveling so close to Russia amid the ongoing war. But I hadn’t come for a vacation—I had come to learn. My spontaneity allowed me to document a complex place shaped by its history and geography. Through my images, I captured the beauty that exists even in the quiet, off-season moments—the empty paths, the roadside stops, and the everyday life that continues in the shadow of political uncertainty.
