River Valley (2012-ongoing)
The isolated Älvdalen (literally translated as ‘river valley’) valley in Sweden can credit its mystic image primarily to the unique variant of Swedish that is spoken there, a dialect highly similar to the language spoken by the medieval Vikings. Among the 3000 people who still speak this language – among them the grandparents of the photographer Maja Daniels – there are only 45 youth. Therefore secondary school graduates receive bonus of 750 euro if they can speak Älvdalska. Daniels documented the lives of these young people, who cherish their language as a part of their unique identity and have taken on the responsibility for its survival.
