Dear Reader (2024-03-26),
It was a long day and drive to Bukhara from Samarkand. There were places to stop along the way, including a visit to Ak Saroy Palace (Five Stans 21). If The Registan (Samarkand) is Disney World, then Bukhara is Venice. I have not been to the former, and I have been to the latter. Both are safe and both cater to tourists. Disney World and The Registan are filled with visual splendor. Venice and Bukhara on the other hand have more than polished elements. They also have accessible corners and corridors off the main thoroughfares where a sense of discovery still exists.
Speaking of Venice, today’s title image is from there (2016). It has been said that photographers are always retaking the same small set of photos. I would like to think that I have more imagination than that, and that at least I am repeating myself along many axes of interest in new and novel ways. Some of you who saw my show Shadows Passing may also think that here is fleeting seed. If that thought does cross your mind, you are not wrong.
Other seeds can be found in the idea that someone once wrote that “you should see great art and then forget it”. I have always loved the work of Paul Strand and in 2016 I was also lucky enough to see a major retrospective of his work in London. Subconscious tendrils remain.
Hello Bukhara for the first of two posts.
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As always, all comments are welcome and sought.
Cheers, Sean
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All rights for all material on any media reserved – © Sean P Drysdale 2020-2024
I think I’ve seen that home in Venice. I also like to think I have more imagination than to take the same set of photos again.
It’s a little under 300 Km Bukhara to Samarkand. Probably 9 or 10 days journey by camel caravan. At one time in my life I wanted to travel the silk road by camel. Then I learned what nasty creatures they are. Then I learned what a nasty place the USSR was. Now I’m a staid old stick, too wedded to creature comforts.
1. That building looks like it’s been yarn bombed by some mad macrame artists. It gives a surprisingly light look to what is almost certainly some form of masonry.
3. I wonder if that tree is lonely.
7. An interesting photograph because of how the people are aligned within the different layers.
several. I can totally imagine some of these stairways and passageways leading to seedy bars filled with suspicious looking men in cheap suits looking to trade secrets.
That is quite wonderful that you recognize the house in Venice. It helps to reinforce the idea that this world of wonders is small and precious.