Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji is a popular series of Katsushika Hokusai, the famous Japanese painter and printmaker, best known for his works in the ukiyo-e style. In this series he reveals a personal attachment to Mount Fuji that leads him to multiple variations of the rule. The obsession and recurrence of the subject's vision, represented in different season and weather conditions, from different places and distances, strengthens a prolonged observation of this theme.

Degtyarsk is a village of 14,000 inhabitants in the Russian region of Sverdlovsk, where the young photographer Fyodor Telkov in 2012 started photographing the land waste heaps, promoting and researching the similarities with the iconic representation of the sacred mountain Fujiyama. For a long time he returned to photograph these small residual mountains, at different times of the year, putting them in relation with the environment and the life going on around. The landscape built around the copper mines is taken from all angles: from the city center to the industrial areas, from natural sites to areas where human presence is an active part of the modification process of the territory. A landscape, eroded by the disaster and its aftermath, which has deep wounds and flashy scars. The photographs are powerful and throw us into the gloomy post-Soviet climate.

The book, published by the spanish publisher Ediciones Anómalas, contains 36 black and white photos with a short explanatory text by the artist. A very accurate edition, with hard cover and dust jacket, winner of the first Fotocanal Photography Book Competition, organized by the Comunidad de Madrid and by Ediciones Anómalas.

Gianpaolo Arena

Gianpaolo Arena: Could you tell us something more about how your project “36 Views” started?
Fyodor Telkov: The first time I was in Degtyarsk in 2012, with employees of the Ekaterinburg NCCA, which was looking for venues for upcoming Industrial Biennale of contemporary art. That day I took the first photograph of one of the piles. I was mesmerized by this spectacle – a huge yellow blade, among the green trees around. After some time began to crystallize the idea of the project, it was very long, but after three or four trips, I realized that I still want to do, there is the analogy with mount Fuji.
I "collected" on the heaps of various points of the city, at different times of the year, trying to visit all the city events through which it would be possible to show life at the foot of these mountains. I was trying to figure out what is the role of these residues in mines of life, what feelings cause?

GA: Did you start the project with the idea of making a book?
FT: No, the idea of making a book appeared near the end of the project. At first I was only thinking about documentary photo stories and exhibition. Then I decided to continue the relationship with the work of Hokusai and developed the design of the book, and then began to look for ways how you can implement a book project.

GA: How do you approach the urban spaces and the landscape while working on your project?
FT: The landscape in this project is the main motive. It is filled with people, different situations and weather conditions, camera angles, and of course, each has the form of a waste heap. It was important for me to explore the whole city, to see those heaps from different angles: from the industrial area, the city centre, the private sector in natural areas, abandoned territories, landfills, and through events in the life of the city.

GA: How did your collaboration with Ediciones Anómalas and underbau start?
FT: I participated in the contest Fotocanal, organizers of which were Ediciones Anómalas and Comunidad de Madrid (the government of Madrid). The publisher chose my project as the winner.

GA: What has been your 3 favorite photo-books in the last few years?
FT: Hidden Islam - Nicolo Degiorgis
Almost There - Aleix Plademunt
Until Death Do Us Part - Thomas Sauvin