While the European parts of Russia are enjoying milder temperatures this season, the winds of winter have fully arrived in eastern Siberia.
In Russia’s republic of Sakha, for example, the daytime temperature reached a frigid minus 33 degrees Celsius. Undeterred by the bitter cold, residents have come up with their own unique ways to celebrate the weather.
During this incredibly cold time of year, Russian social media becomes filled with photos showing winter in all its forms — from snowy landscapes to selfies with frozen eyelashes to instantly freezing water and clothes.
Here’s a look at the Siberian winter from the eyes of locals and visitors alike:
Galina Davydova used the low temperatures to create unusual works of art. She transformed her clothes into frozen sculptures in mere minutes. The resulting photos gained thousands of likes on Instagram.
“The idea is good, the photos are excellent, the idea is directorial,” one user commented on the post.
In the village of Oymyakon, one of the coldest permanently inhabited settlements on the planet, the temperatures are even lower — it’s not uncommon to see the thermostat reach minus 50 degrees Celsius. Instagram photos from this place are all about selfies with the trademark white, icy eyelashes that form when it’s this cold.
The author of this photo calls it “Yakut makeup.”
Unlike humans, Yakut horses live outdoors all year round. Fortunately, this breed is the most frost-resistant and is not afraid of a few clouds of steam coming from its nostrils.
It may not be so comfortable to live in Oymyakon, but it is an ideal place for photographers.
“It seems to me that living in a village is so interesting for a photographer. I went out of the village gate, you’re spoiled for choice! So many textures!” the author of these photos writes.
It’s not just clothes and landscapes that turn into icy sculptures — buildings also transform into fabulous frozen works of art.
These super-cold climates can be a rich source of ideas for advertising campaigns.
You can take a portrait on a natural white background…
…or imagine yourself as the keeper of the North.
No need for freezers here.
Locals aren’t afraid of the snow, using ice pools and snow baths to stay fit and healthy.
For those who are used to the real cold, winter comes when the thermometer stops working.
“Winter has finally come to our Yakutia. In some places, the thermometer stopped showing the temperature.”
