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In a time of disconnection, this photographic journey reminds us of what it means to truly belong—to a place, a people, a purpose.

As the world grapples with the disastrous consequences of our so-called “developed” societal models—declining wildlife populations, overexploitation of natural resources, unsustainable agricultural practices, unchecked urbanization, and rising social isolation, especially among younger generations—we increasingly find ourselves longing for something deeper. A need to travel, to break from routine, to search for meaning, reconnection, and pause has never been stronger.

While many embark on fleeting adventures, few truly take the leap to live differently—in true harmony with the world around them. Claire Thomas is one of those few. From adolescence, she chose a different path: one rooted in connection with animals and nature. As an acclaimed photographer, she has dedicated her work to documenting the lives of Indigenous communities who resist the pull of the “modern” world and continue to uphold traditions grounded between sky and earth.

At the intersection of Central Asia’s vast ecological zones—from the Siberian taiga and the Kazakh steppe to the edges of the Gobi Desert—the Altai Mountains rise as a remote and striking frontier. Named after the ancient Mongolian word altan, meaning “golden,” the Altai are steeped in myth and history. This dramatic mountain range is home to nomadic communities whose deep relationship with nature reflects centuries of ancestral tradition. Among these highlands—some designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites—Claire Thomas spent weeks living alongside Kazakh herders and eagle hunters, bearing witness to enduring ways of life shaped by landscape, resilience, and kinship.

In ALTAI: Hunters and Herders of Mongolia, she takes you deep into the heart of the Altai Mountains, offering a rare and powerful glimpse into the lives of Kazakh eagle hunters and their enduring bond with the wild.

I've always believed in the quiet power of photographs—the way a single image can open a window into another life, stir a sense of connection and curiosity, or make us feel at home in a place we’ve never been. That belief has shaped my path as a photographer and ultimately led me from the valleys of Wales to the sweeping, wind-beaten landscapes of western Mongolia.
Sitere
Claire Thomas
Photographer

ALTAI is more than a book—it's a journey into a vanishing way of life, where every image tells a story of resilience, reverence, and the profound connection between humans, animals, and the land they share. Discover a culture at the edge of the world—and at the edge of transformation. ALTAI is a tribute to beauty, survival, and the fragile threads of heritage. Own the book. Witness the legacy.

Main Edition

Size 9.45x11.18 in / 24 x 30 cm
Case bound book, Square backed, Cloth spine
184 pages printed on Munken Krystall Rough 150g
100 photographs

Official Bookshops Publication Date: October 2026
Available for Christmas 2025

Retail Price: 55£/65€/$75
Preorder Price: 45£/50€/$60
For a signed book: +10

Buy the Main Edition

Grand Limited Edition

Size 15.7x19.7 in / 40x50cm

Only 30 copies of this large-format edition will ever be produced

Each cloth-bound book is hand-signed by the photographer, and elegantly housed in a bespoke clamshell box lined with fabric inspired by the traditional garments of Kazakh eagle hunters and nomadic herders—connecting form with subject.

Buy the Grand limited edition book
Grand Edition - Book Alone 1250 €

Each cloth-bound book is hand-signed by the photographer, and elegantly housed in a bespoke clamshell box lined with fabric inspired by the traditional garments of Kazakh eagle hunters and nomadic herders—connecting form with subject.

BUY THE BOOK Lenkevinkel
Grand Edition + Small Fine Art Print 1800 €

Includes :
- Signed Grand Limited Edition book
- A signed 16 x 24-inch unframed Limited Edition print, placed inside the clamshell box.

This print is typically sold for $1,250 / €1,080 / £940

CHOOSE THE PRINT Lenkevinkel
Grand Edition + Medium Fine Art Print
2610 €

Includes :
- Signed Grand Limited Editon Book
- A signed 20 x 30-inch Limited Edition print (unframed)

The print will ship separately, securely rolled in a tube
This print is typically sold for $2,300 / €1,980 / £1,730

CHOOSE THE PRINT Lenkevinkel
Grand Edition + Large Fine Art Print
3654 €

Includes :
- Signed Grand Limited Editon Book
- A signed 30 x 45-inch Limited Edition print (unframed)

The print will ship separately, securely rolled in a tube
This print is typically sold for $3500 / €3000 / £2600

CHOOSE THE PRINT Lenkevinkel

We need the tonic of wildness... We can never have enough of nature.
Sitere
Henry David Thoreau
American Poet

Let this certainty fill you: all that exists, everything, is like a sleeping song, awaiting only a gaze pure enough to awaken it.
Sitere
Joë Bousquet
French Poet

ABOUT ALTAI

For more than 4,000 years, the Kazakh people have cultivated a profound bond with eagles, these majestic birds, training them to hunt foxes and other small game for meat and fur. The eagles are far more than hunting companions—they are revered family members, honored for their intelligence, loyalty, and strength. This practice, passed down through generations, remains a cornerstone of Kazakh identity.

Through evocative photography and immersive storytelling, ALTAÏ seeks to honor their vibrant culture while reflecting on the fragility of intangible heritage in a rapidly shifting world. Offering a rare and timely glimpse into a world at a crossroads—where Kazakhstan, Russia, China, and Mongolia converge—, Claire’s lens is more than a visual celebration of a unique tradition, but a meditation on endurance, reverence, and the delicate balance between human life and the natural world

—a balance that has sustained these communities for centuries and now faces an uncertain future.

In bearing witness to this way of life, she invites readers to reflect on their own relationship to nature, community, and cultural inheritance. 

A powerful visual journey, Altaï: Hunters and Herders of Mongolia is also a vibrant quest for beauty and marvelousness, when they emerge between sky and earth, facing snow-covered peaks or wrapped in the mist of a winter morning. 

The book will be shaped around four interconnected aspects of life in the Altai—horses, hunting, herding, and home—each offering a window into a different facet of the Kazakh way of life and the traditions that sustain it.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Claire Thomas

Claire Thomas is an award-winning Welsh photojournalist and fine art photographer now based between the UK and Egypt. A graduate in Politics from the University of the West of England, her photojournalism work first focused on issues surrounding political and military conflicts, human rights, and humanitarian and environmental crises. From within the camps that emerged from the refugee crisis in Europe to the frontlines in the battle against ISIS in Iraq, Claire has covered a range of stories in various countries, contributing images and photo essays to leading newspapers, magazines and news agencies worldwide such as The New York Times, The Sunday Times, Geographical Magazine, The Guardian, National Geographic Magazine, Greenpeace Magazine, Al Jazeera and Newlines Magazine, among others.

Since she left Iraq in 2019, her word focuses on visual storytelling that explores social justice, cultural heritage, and the ways people live in connection with their environments and animals. In that way, she reconciles her passion for wildlife in general, and horses in particular.

Photo credit: Ryan Whalen©

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About Hemeria

Launched in France on the occasion of Paris Photo 2018, Hemeria is a new ecosystem dedicated to the image in all its forms. Publisher, online book shop, and producer of a podcast about photography, it relies as much on new practices related to web technologies and short circuit as on the assets of the physical world.

The goal: develop all possible meeting points between a photographer and his audience, in France and abroad. The ambition: to create beauty, to enshrine it in the long term.

Designed to support all photographers wishing to publish their book while maintaining freedom of action and total control over the creative process, Hemeria is aimed at those who do not want to compromise on the quality of reproduction of their works, whether it is a book or an art print, and want to achieve the same level of excellence.

Above all, Hemeria supports committed photographers, whose work and reflection unfold over time around major societal issues or reverence to Nature, such as Maryam Ashrafi or Cristina Mittermeier.

 PRINTING

Hemeria draws on the unique expertise developed by its partners, the founders of Printmodel®, a production studio specializing in bespoke printing processes for the worlds of luxury, art, and photography.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

Hemeria uses only high-quality materials, including paper sourced from sustainably managed forests, produced in compliance with FSC and PEFC standards, in order to minimize its environmental footprint.