Taemin Ha: süü

An intimate glimpse into everyday life in Mongolia, captured through portraits of children and evolving landscapes that reflect the passage of the seasons.

Like a joyful window opened onto the rural life of Mongolian nomads, Taemin Ha’s photographs tell, above all, the story of an encounter. After spending several months with a family on the Mongolian plains, he captures the rhythms of their communal daily life. Portraits of children unfold through the seasons: sovereigns of these vast rural landscapes, they embody a profound sense of freedom, intimately connected to nature and the animals around them.

A peaceful softness radiates from his images, where the bright light of spring and summer follows the hushed, enveloping atmosphere of snowy winters. Light—ever-present in Taemin Ha’s work—seems to guide each scene: whether gently filtering through the window of a yurt or bathing children’s games in clear lakes, it accompanies every gesture, every gaze.

In dialogue with these photographs, poems by Erdenesolongo Batchuluun and Byambajav Gombojav—two Mongolian poets—are woven throughout the book. Their words intertwine with the images to form a new thread of connection and resonance, offering a poetic lens that deepens the sense of presence, memory, and shared time.