The book That is the Silence presents an award winning filmmaker and an analog photographer Inna Ivanovskaya’ series of photographs capturing the atmosphere of silence, dreaminess, and the magnificent beauty of Alaskan vast space, and immersing the viewer into its environment. Following the short documentary film essay sharing the same name released in 2023 and having been in a successful festival run for the past year the book simply complements it. Through Inna’s photographic lens, we are invited to experience a silence that is both deafening and serene, forcing us to look inward. Alaska’s remote, frozen wilderness is not merely a backdrop for these images—it is an essential character in the story, inviting the viewer into a conversation with themselves and the environment. The book takes you on an immersive and intimate journey through the spirit forcing you to reflect on your own inner desires and ask - "What does it mean to listen...".



“Whenever you feel lonesome, try to appreciate this feeling.
Appreciate the ache and contempt, find comfort in its edgy
shadow that looms in my heart. Finding comfort in being
lonely.”

The photographs in the book are steeped in a haunting stillness. There is no rush, no hurry to capture every detail. Each image invites you to pause, to breathe, to reflect. Inna first went to Alaska in 2020 and was completely taken away not only by the gorgeous scenery of the state but also by its crystal clear energy and silence which reigns over everything. Having come back in 2022 in a deep winter when sun shines only for a few hours each day she stayed for some time with people living off the grid in the woods: exploring, searching for answers, looking inwards, tapping into unknown territory. The silence of the winter over there is deafening. It forces you to look inside, to learn who you truly are and to see what your soul truly desires.



“It’s beautiful any time of day. But my favorite is the
morning. Waking up early and staying in bed until it comes
out feels comforting, like I’m in elementary school and it’s a
snow day. The sun trickles in slowly and casts a blue/gray
hue over everything. The windows patiently fill with light
until I can turn my too bright flashlight off and read with the
rising sun instead. There are many rewarding moments
here. Everything is so drawn out and inconvenient, in the
best way possible. Instant gratification is a stranger to this
place.”

That is the Silence, a deeply reflective book, offers a path to self-discovery through silence, where the questions of who you are and what you want transform in unexpected ways.



It reads about feeling pulled in two different directions. Wanting to make a loud statement and the desire to be somebody and also wanting to walk a silent path and be content with nothing. You find yourself in an environment where you merge with nature and become one with it. All of

a sudden things like social status, accolades, and career have absolutely no meaning. You suddenly start questioning your life and decisions you make every day, the way you live, and it all starts making totally different sense.

Craig Mahaffy, one of the founders of Poetic Lens film festival, describes That is the Silence as “an introspective film, juxtaposing the environments of intensively populated NYC with the solitude and visceral isolation of rural Alaska. Dialogue is minimal, and the narrator/filmmaker asks a few questions we all ask, but does not attempt to offer answers because she has none. In the way of good art, or a Zen koan, what rises to the surface is an answer that defies definition, yet is keenly felt by the end of the film. This film touches on the universal.”



Coinciding with the book's publication in December, The Center for Photography at Woodstock will present an in-person artist’s work as a part of a group show at the end of January followed by a solo exhibition, a film screening, and a book signing at the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center's Reception Gallery in September this year. Critics and curators have lauded Inna’s' artistic mastery of capturing a transcendence of a moment in the silence of Alaskan wilderness and tranquility of the space.

Inna Ivanovskaya is an independent filmmaker and an analog photographer based in the Hudson Valley, NY.

A native of Russia, she immigrated to the United States in 2017 to escape an authoritarian political regime, to expand her world outlook and to grow as an artist. It takes time to adapt to life in another country and to find a voice again. After some doubts and uncertainties she received her BA in Film Production from Brooklyn College.



Her work explores human relationships, the notions of home and belonging, and cultural identity as well as the role of introspection in life. Inna's practice is informed by growing up in the post Soviet Russia, political repressions, and the immigrant experience. In her research, Inna strives to get to the root of what might have caused certain events to happen, turning to explore how tribes of ordinary people lived and simply to the nature of things, trying to find answers to many questions there.

She is a director and editor known for her poetic experimental documentaries Alien Numbers and That is The Silence as well as analog photo series sharing the same name screened at various film festivals across the United States and Europe. Her passion for hiking, backpacking, yoga and meditation helped my creative practice to open up and deepen.