Born in 1980, is a Russian photographer based in Riga, Latvia, whose work focuses on landscape and the relationship between people and their environment. He was born in Tallinn, Estonia, and began working as an assistant to a commercial photographer at the age of 17. From 1999 to 2008, he worked as a press photographer for Russian and international media, covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, before gradually shifting his focus toward long-term personal projects.

Since 2008, his practice has centered on how geography shapes human behavior and emotional states, particularly within the Russian landscape. Key series from this period include Less Than One (2006–2009), which examines sparsely populated regions of Russia; Endless Night (2007–2009), made in Murmansk during the polar night; The Edge (2008–2010), depicting the outskirts of Moscow in winter; and Mountains and Waters (2011), a study of contemporary China presented in diptychs. His best-known body of work, Pastoral (2008–2012), explores the suburban zones between Moscow and the surrounding countryside, where leisure activities coexist with industrial infrastructure and urban debris.

The photobook Pastoral was published in 2013 and received wide critical attention. The project deliberately subverts the traditional notion of the pastoral idyll by presenting landscapes of transition in which distinctions between urban and rural dissolve. His later work includes Norilsk (2013). The photobook remains a central format in his practice.

Reference:
Biography text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), English edition. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Gronsky