New York City based photographer Misha Friedman often visits the former Soviet Union countries to explore his own roots and to try and understand what exactly is a Russian or a Ukrainian or an Uzbek soul. His series Donbass Romanticism is inspired by German and French Romantic paintings of the 19th Century and it shows how nature and man have learned to live within the industrial complex in Eastern Ukraine. A portrait of miners enjoying some moonshine vodka after a long day underground has won this years POYi award. To see more of Misha’s work click here.