Plastic Flowers Dancing in Russia's Backyard

Wheelbarrel

The living conditions are harsh, there is no running water, no supermarkets, almost no cars which results in a very simple life.

Leftovers

Soviet Tank near the airport in Murghab. A leftover from the Afghan War in die 80s.

Silk Road

An old motorcycle along the former Silk Road.

Independence Day

Girls watching the Parade.

Marriage

After Tajikistans independence women’s political representation became virtually nonexistent and an unequal household division of labor apparent.

The City Park

The city park in the town of Khorog, the capital of the GBAO region in Tajikistan, situated 2,100 metres above sea level, contributes important public space to the city.

The Field

The main field in Khorog is being used from soccer tournaments to presidential parades.

Baking Bread

Homemade Tajik non is round, flat and baked in a Tanur oven. It is flung to the inside wall of the oven and the high heat makes it stick to the wall without falling down. It is an essential to the daily diet, especially in non-arable areas.

The Silk Road

During Soviet times there were about 350 gasoline trucks a day driving along the Pamir Highway. On the way to Murghab, Tajikistan.

These photographs are selected from a project examining contemporary Tajikistan. Bordering Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, today it is the poorest of the former Soviet republics. It’s eastern mountains, the second highest in the world, cover almost half of Tajik territory yet contain only three percent of the population. In the valleys of these remote mountains live the Pamiri people, who have retained their distinctive culture, and in many ways remain autonomous from mainstream Tajikistan.
Shot on assignment and published for the GIZ in conjunction with the Tourism office De Pamiri and the “Roof of the World Festival”/Music Magazine. A selection was shown at an exhibition at Humboldt University in Berlin.