“Like a painting”: Kazakh photographer captures a year of Alatau mountains

Tengrinews.kz – For an entire year, Kazakh photographer Dmitry Dotsenko documented the ever-changing beauty of the Alatau mountains — and the result is nothing short of breathtaking.
Dotsenko shared his photo series on Instagram, showcasing misty, layered silhouettes of the mountains that evoke the brushstrokes of Russian painter Nicholas Roerich.

"I’ve been putting this collection together for a long time — and now it’s ready. These are the same layered mountain silhouettes, as if they came straight off Roerich’s canvases. Except it’s not a painting, it’s a real photograph," he wrote in his post.

The photos quickly sparked admiration across social media.













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Публикация от Дмитрий Доценко / Фотограф Алматы (@dots_foto)


"I’m in love with this gradient — it’s pure magic!" wrote one commenter. "The way the shadows shift, the backlighting — it feels like enchantment," said another. Others praised the quiet majesty of the mountains, with one calling the photographer "a true artist" and noting, "It’s so powerful to see the world through your eyes."
Speaking to Tengrinews, Dotsenko explained how the series came together.

"I spent the year watching the mountains at different times of day. Many shots were taken at sunrise, when the light is soft and the air is crystal clear. In those moments, the mountains naturally form into layered silhouettes, so reminiscent of Roerich’s style. That’s exactly the feeling I aimed to capture," he said.

He emphasized that these weren’t spontaneous snapshots: each outing was a dedicated landscape photography trip.

"When I caught the right shot, I saved it in a special folder — with the idea of eventually creating a full series. Photoshop was only used to balance light and shadow, so the photo looked exactly as I saw it — no artificial effects or over-editing. The ‘transparency’ you see comes naturally in backlighting, when a light mist softens the air and the mountain ridges recede in layers," he added.

This isn’t Dotsenko’s first acclaimed project. His portfolio includes minimalist winter landscapes and sweeping mountain vistas — all united by his distinctive sense of light, form, and poetic composition. Each frame, though captured by camera, feels like a painting in its own right.