Izturgan Aldauyev documents the aftermath of the 2006 violence in Shanyrak, an illegal settlement on outskirts of Almaty, where local residents rioted against police attempting to clear the area. Aldauyev discovered that in the years since 2006, due to international and national attention, the majority of homes in Shanyrak were legalized and local NGOs were able to provide legal assistance. A dialogue between residents and city officials begun. Aldauyev’s project evolved into a portrait of those residents who had participated in a rare moment in autocratic Kazakh history. His images attest to the endurance of internal migrants who create and defend their homes.
Izturgan Aldauyev’s professional photojournalism career began in 2004 when he worked for the Republican weekly newspaper Let's Start with Monday. In 2006, in support of International Child Labor Day, Aldauyev exhibited his work, “Where Does Childhood Go?” From 2007 to 2008 Aldauyev received a certificate from the National Photo Contest "Golden Lens". In 2007, he participated in a weeklong training seminar on modern photojournalism organized by the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) under the supervision of Sally Stapleton, a consultant with The New York Times.