During my travels I was able to visit some of the most famous and recognisable cities in the Middle East, Asia and Australasia. I wanted to capture these urban environments in a creative, abstract and unique way providing new perspectives to these heavily documented locations. Within this series I also wanted to document the locals in their ever changing urban environment.
During my travels I was able to visit some of the most famous and recognisable cities in the Middle East, Asia and Australasia. I wanted to capture these urban environments in a creative, abstract and unique way providing new perspectives to these heavily documented locations. Within this series I also wanted to document the locals in their ever changing urban environment.
During my travels I was able to visit some of the most famous and recognisable cities in the Middle East, Asia and Australasia. I wanted to capture these urban environments in a creative, abstract and unique way providing new perspectives to these heavily documented locations. Within this series I also wanted to document the locals in their ever changing urban environment.
Uzbekistan:
Silk. Soviet. Society.
Uzbekistan is a country unknown to the masses. Located in the heart of Central Asia this nation has only been widely accessible since 2017. Due to Uzbekistan being geographically close to the Middle East and a former Soviet Republic many may assume this country is unsafe, dangerous and ugly. However it is far from it and in fact one of the safest, friendliest and beautiful places on earth. I wanted to document the incredible history and culture of this nation by splitting up this photographic documentary series into three distinct sections, Silk. Soviet. Society. Below are each of the three sections.
Silk
A documentation of Uzbekistan's ancient Silk Road architecture. The following images document the incredible islamic architecture of Samarkand, the crown jewel of the Silk Road.
Registan Square.
Sherdor Madrassah, Registan Square.
Mausoleum within Shah-i-Zinda complex.
Shodi Mulk Oko Mausoleum.
Tillya-Kori Madrassah ceiling.
(Soviet) achievements: The Tashkent Metro
Uzbekistan was under Soviet control from 1922 to 1991. One of the great Soviet achievements was the construction of the Tashkent Metro . What makes this metro stand out from others are the metro stations, these stations are among some of the most elaborate and grand metro stations in the world. The following images show the grandest of them all.
Gufur Gulom.
Mustakillik Maydoni.
Alisher Navoiy.
Kosmonavtlar.
(Soviet) disaster: The drying of the Aral Sea
The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest body of inland water in the world. During the 1960s the Soviet government began to divert water for the purpose of irrigating fields for the production of cotton, a key export of Uzbekistan. Over decades this diversion caused the sea to slowly dry up causing salinity levels to rise and the sea then bean to slowly become polluted due to agricultural chemical run off. in 2012 the sea had shrunk by 75% in size and 90% in volume. The only large port on the shores of the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan was Moynaq. Today Moynaq lies over 100km from the shores of the Aral Sea. Below are a series of images showing the remnants of a bustling industry.
The port town of Moynaq today.
Society
Uzbekistan has a population of 35 million people (2021). Due to it being in Central Asia many Uzbek's have a mix of European and Asia physical features and are incredibly hospitable towards foreigners as few had been to Uzbekistan before 2017. The following images document the people of Uzbekistan today and shows how as I got to know the customs I was able to get more close up personal portraits of the people.
