The Kalyan Minaret with Arch

Bokhara, Uzbekistan 2012

Here’s another way to shoot a tower. Use a “worm’s eye” viewpoint. It helps that this minaret, called the Kalyan Minaret, has an arch attached to it. Shot from under the arch and up to the top of the tower gives an abstract look and fills in the dreaded empty sky. I ‘went big’ on the printing with this shot and the brick texture lit from the side is tactile.

City Walls of Bukhara

These are reproductions of the original city walls of Bokhara. Once built of mud and wattle (woven or intertwined twigs) they were tall enough (60 feet) and strong enough to defend against Genghis Khan. The Red Army bombed the walls in the 1920’s. That pretty much destroyed them and they were left to crumble. When my taxi driver drove me here one evening, I noticed some of the original wall. It was a shapeless mound: an adobe structure that had had too many rains and no repairs. The present day walls are built with baked brick. You wouldn’t know they aren’t the original if no one told you about the history.

I didn’t have good light the evening I visited the walls. Up to that evening, the light had been unfailingly gorgeous. A lesson: do not take good light for granted. Get out there and shoot when God gives golden light to you.  There was enough color in the soft light that I could bring some color back with Photoshop. 

Early Morning in Bokhara

Thought you might like to see what a typical neighborhood looks like in Bokhara. Torie and I were in a museum and we shot these women from the second story window…a bird’s eye view. The architecture is typical of the Middle East with streets or alleys lined by walls and heavy carved doors. The doors had two knockers…one used by men and one by women. The women would not answer the door if the men’s door knocker were used. They could tell by the sound. I’m not sure if this custom still applies because although Uzbekistan is a Muslim country, the Russian occupation for about 70 years has changed the culture.

I like this photo with its tiny dots of color against the drab gray stucco. Especially, I love the little girl’s posture. She seems to be looking for her friend to come out and join her in play.

 I recommend Penelope at www.uzbekjourneys.com if you are interested in visiting or learning more about this fascinating country.