“In 2014, this picture won first place in the National Geographic Russia Wild Nature contest. Elbrus is a sleeping volcano and, at 5,642 metres, the highest peak in Europe. The picture has everything: placer stars, a giant volcano, mountains, and a blanket of clouds. In the foreground the southern tip of the Kanzhol plateau, the moon, which has come just behind the mountains, and the Milky Way as if escaping from the top of Mount Elbrus. I have this picture hanging on the wall in my house, and each time I look at it I find myself there, steeped in the moment. That’s the true magic of photography.”