If you see a tiger for one second, he has been watching you for one hour

In 1997, a Russian poacher called Markov ran into the trail of a gigantic Amur tiger. Despite the risk, Markov saw the tiger’s footprints as a promise for a better life. He shot the tiger, but was not able to kill it. Udege people believe that if someone attacks a tiger without a reason, Amba (the dark side of the tiger) will hunt him down. Unknowingly, Markov unleashed the Amba.

During the following 72 hours, the animal tracked down Markov and killed him. Later investigations suggest that the tiger planned its movements with a rare mix of strategy, instinct, and—perhaps most importantly—a chilling clarity of purpose: revenge. This animistic belief constitutes the leitmotiv to experience the impact of nature in the Udege communities across one of the last remains of shamanism: the Russian Far East hunter’s culture.

I got to know about the story of Vladimir Markov through the book by John Vaillant, The Tiger, in which he narrates the encounter between the tiger and the hunter. Vladimir Arseniev’s stories about Primorsky (author of ‘Dersu Uzala’) also influenced me a lot in taking the decision of traveling to the Russian Far East.

The Russian Far East is the home of the Udege people. They have lived there for hundreds of years and, due to their close contact with nature, consider the tiger to be a sacred animal, a spirit of the forest. While I was working on this project, I stayed for several months with local hunters and families in the hunting territories of the Bikin River. During a hunting trip, we got lost in the taiga and were trying to find the path back home when our dog started barking wildly. That’s when we found the fresh footprints of an adult Siberian tiger. Suddenly our dog stopped barking and stared at one point in the darkness while walking backwards.

There was complete silence and all I could see were some branches lit up by my lantern. It was then that I remembered the old Udege proverb, “If you see a tiger for one second, he has been watching you for one hour”, and realized that we were no longer in control of the situation. There was no sound and I felt like we were hanging in the ether, held by an unknown presence. The situation kept on for some seconds (or hours) until the dog started growling again and the feeling vanished.

Luckily for us, the tiger kept on his path. But for a few seconds, I understood why some people still fear the dark.

This project has been published as a photobook by Dewi Lewis and RM and designed by Ramón Pez. You can find it here.

Álvaro Laiz is one of six selected visual storytellers of World Press Photo’s 6x6 Global Talent Program, in Europe.

Ruth Eichhorn (Germany), freelance photo editor and curator, said of Álvaro’s work, “Álvaro has found his unique way of expressing himself by concentrating on the complex relationship between man and nature, shifting between conflict and fascination. He tries to focus on realities that are usually ignored by the mass media. Every image is like a poem with a structure, and just like a poem, his images compress an emotional experience.”

In a rolling process of nomination and selection, the 6x6 program identifies six under-recognized talents from each of the world’s six continents, and connects them to a global audience.

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