Bokhara: Madrassa Arcade
Bokhara, Uzbekistan 2012
I have many photographs of Bokhara because Torie and I spent at least four full days there. We wandered and explored, passing the same streets, saying hello to the same vendors until we arrived at the point where the woman who sold silk scarves invited us to her daughter’s wedding.
This series of arches formed an arcade in one of the old madrassas or maybe it was a mosque now a museum. I don’t know because it was here that Torie and my guide walked off and left me. I was furious as I told you, but not so furious that I could ignore the grandeur of the arches. The men at the far end of the corridor give an idea of just how tall these arches are. I was going to “Photoshop-in” an old woman sweeping, a gilding of the lily, but the men, although wearing western clothes, serve the same purpose.
It would be interesting to return to the madrassa several times to really explore the possibilities for photography. Mosques and madrassas are huge, wide-open spaces with little or no decoration. It takes some thinking to come up with an interesting viewpoint and as tourists, we don’t have time to think especially when your guide has left you all alone. This shot showing the vanishing point didn’t take thought. The stately,diminishing arches demanded to be photographed.
For more information on tours of Uzbekistan, its culture, and arts see: www.uzbekjourneys.com