The Back to Photo School Post

Photo Class in Isfara, Tajikistan

It has been a 5 month hiatus for The Coruscating Camera. Most of the photographers and students that I worked with this summer in Central Asia had active FB accounts, but my WordPress and Blogspot blogs were blocked in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

We met a group of party people on the high pastures of Kyrgyzstan. They had a great accordion and lots of vodka. We joined them for some dancing.

I was travelling throughout the ‘stans with the support of the US Department of State. My wife Vivian works as an English Language Specialist and I was a Cultural Envoy presenting workshops on photography.

Inside the Isfara classroom in Tajikistan.

I’ve been editing the pictures for a one person show at the Vermont Center for Photography in Brattleboro this November. This selection probably won’t be included. These pictures are more about teaching and traveling for 7 weeks.

We met this family on the road to Panjikent, Tajikistan.

Teaching in a well equipped studio in Urgench, Uzbekistan. Photo by Muhayo Aliyeva

Dancers, Urgench, Uzbekistan.

The above is part of a performance welcoming me to the Urgench State College of Arts. What a talented group of students and faculty.

Inside the 4 mile long tunnel under a mountain in Northern Tajikistan.

Our Department of State team, who often travelled with us, described this as the “Tunnel of Doom”.

Below are a few more pictures from teaching and hanging out with students.

Preparing for a workshop in Panjikent, Tajikistan.

With students on a fieldtrip in Sukok, Uzbekistan.

Eating grapes in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

At the American Corner in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

Khiva may be my favorite place in Uzbekistan. It has a quiet beauty and stimulates a sense of wonder. Wonder is one of my favorite feelings.

I didn’t include any pictures from Kazakhstan because I posted a couple of times from Almaty at the beginning of our program. If you didn’t see those posts, go to Asia Central. There is also more about Urgench, Uzbekistan there.

And check out frankwardphoto.tumblr.com for more from Astana, Kazakhstan, one of the world’s weirdest cities.