Wish You Were Here!
Uzbekistan 2012
There are more than a hundred of these beautiful architectural monuments in Bokhara. This one is a madrassa. Shops for tourists fill the cells that for hundreds and hundreds of years had housed students from the time of the Arab invasion in the 8th century A.D.
I shot many views of these restored buildings which are testimony to the history of Bokhara. I decided to turn this one into a postcard because the viewpoint seems to me to be one that a postcard photographer would choose. It combines shopping and history by including the silk scarves in the foreground. At the time I wanted foreground and color, something to make this photo different from all the others.
A “lisl dennis”
You might find this display of Uzbek skullcaps in one of the shops inside the madrassa. These are made from antique chapans (quilted coats) or suzanis (embroidered fabrics). Torie and I called these shots “Lisl Dennis” shots because Lisl Dennis is well known for her artistic shots of craft items. (Apologies to Lisl, although Torie did come close to a “Lisl lookalike” on her first shot of the tubitekas, (skullcaps).
Recycled embroidered silks like these are in fashion now. Boutiques sell expensive Suzani pillows If you go to Uzbekistan you can buy your own suzani and spend the next year making pillows as gifts for yourself and friends. Does that sound like fun?
Fast Food Uzbek Style
A restaurant in Tashkent. You enter the kitchen which faces the street. These delicious looking breads were the first thing I saw and then the cauldron of meat porridge. We wondered what on earth that was. It didn’t look appealing, but many customers ordered it. I think it was inexpensive as well as nourishing and most likely good tasting. Torie and I sat on a balcony and we looked down to see what all the Uzbeks had ordered. We ate plov, a rice and meat dish that is the Uzbek national dish.
For your own adventures in Uzbekistan contact Penelope at www.uzbekjourneys.com