Justyna Mielnikiewicz moved to Georgia 11 years ago to document life in the Caucasus region. She has also photographed stories in Russia, Central Asia, Ukraine and Turkey. In this scene, children jump off a rock face next to a waterfall in Tbilisi’s Botanical Garden
A young woman reads a prayer during a service in Sameba Cathedral, where each Sunday the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Illia II, conducts the service. The cathedral, which is in Tbilisi, was built after independence and consecrated in 2004.
Drivers stop at a mountain road memorial to three men who died when their car drove off a cliff edge. It is tradition that passing drivers make a toast of wine for keeping a "good eye on the road" in the name of those who have died.
View of Tbilisi and the Mtkvari river from a small Orthodox Christian Church on a hill overlooking the old part of the capital. The church is also used for therapy sessions treating drug and other addicts.
A Russian peacekeeper at a check point on the Enguri River, marking the division between the Georgian and Abkhaz-controlled territories in the northwest of Georgia. Locals crossing the bridge can either walk across or pay for the journey by horse carriage.
View of the Georgian Military Highway leading to the Russian border to the north. The road was the traditional route used by traders and invaders over the centuries. The Russian military developed the route in the 19th Century as they moved into the Caucasus region.
Father and son stand next to a Russian armoured vehicle during the 2008 conflict between Georgia and Russia which saw Russian forces seize large tracts of Georgian territory. The Russian forces later pulled back to South Ossetia, the breakaway region Georgia had attempted to retake by force.
A shrine to Joseph Stalin, the Georgian who was a leader of the Soviet Union before, during and after World War II. The items include portraits of Stalin as a young man and a phone belonging to him. Stalin remains of interest to the older generation but for most young Georgians he belongs to the past.
Hospitality is taken very seriously in Georgia. Here, Vazha Nikolaishvili, who runs a small agrotourism business, makes a toast to his guest.
Unemployment is very high in Georgia and people will do all sorts of things to make ends meet. Here a man sells flags and posters of Soviet leaders at Tbilisi's flea market. Evidence of Georgia's Soviet past have, along with most of the Soviet-era sculptures, disappeared.
The centre of the former industrial city of Rustavi, 30km outside Tbilisi, has been extensively renovated, part of government efforts to create alternative work in areas where old industries have been shut down or greatly reduced.
Celebrating Alaverdoba, a religious and folk festival that is marked every year in the region of Kakhetia, in eastern Georgia. Locals dance and drink close to the Alaverdi Cathedral, which is the focus of the celebration which has its roots in the harvest festival.
- Published12 July 2013
