PHOTOGRAPHY: Easter Celebration in Georgia. By Temo Bardzimashvili (temobardzimashvili.com)

Last year's celebration of Easter in Shukhuti, Georgia, with the traditional (and a bit violent) game of Lelo Burti.

more about Temo Bardzimashvili here: temobardzimashvili.com

PHOTOGRAPHY: EurasiaNet's 2013 Photos of the Year (eurasianet.org)

(eurasianet.org) Istanbul's city center exploded in protest during the summer, Syria's civil war continued through the year, the targeting of undocumented workers in Russia intensified, and America's use of the Manas airbase in Kyrgyzstan soon comes to an end. These, and hundreds of other stories, were covered by our contributing photojournalists and documentary photographers in 2013. It is through their eyes and by capturing with their cameras that EurasiaNet.org can present unique stories of people, events, and humanity in the South Caucasus, throughout Central Asia, across the Anatolian Plain, and over the rolling steppe of Mongolia.

These images are a look back at EurasiaNet's best photo coverage of news and stories from 2013. Although all of the excellent photos and hard work from our photographers cannot be featured on this select gallery of images, you can review all of our posted Photo Essays hereand our posted Audio Slideshows here.

A fence erected along the border of Georgia and breakaway South Ossetia is disrupting daily life in area villages. (Molly Corso)

Nakhshun Gasparova shows one of the few things she took with her when she fled the Nagorno Karabakh war. (Anahit Hayrapetyan)

The Firuza sanatorium in Borjomi is the only operational spa left almost untouched from the Soviet era. (Justyna Mielnikiewicz)

Women comfort each other during a Tbilisi ceremony memorializing the conflict over Abkhazia. (Justyna Mielnikiewicz)

Georgian soldiers disembark at the Manas Transit Center, in Kyrgyzstan, after a charter flight from Tbilisi. (David Trilling)

A Rustavi steel factory in Georgia is among the major buyers of scrap metal, which is melted and re-used. (Temo Bardzimashvili)

Students with the Tbilisi public school for visually impaired children rehearse for an upcoming concert. (Temo Bardzimashvili)

A history of Borjomi bottles is displayed in the entrance hall of Borjomi Bottling Factory # 2. (Justyna Mielnikiewicz)

War vet Mnats Sarkisian fought for Armenia 25 years ago during the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh. (Anahit Hayrapetyan)

Anton Pilossian pauses behind the curtain before the start of a show of Tbilisi’s 125-year-old circus. (Justyna Mielnikiewicz)

Georgia’s famous Borjomi mineral water winds it way through the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. (Justyna Mielnikiewicz)

Scrap metal workers strip rebar from an abandoned factory in Rustavi, Georgia. (Temo Bardzimashvili)

THUMBLR: Humans of Tbilisi. Images and stories from everyday lives of Tbilisians. (humansoftbilisi.tumblr.com)

About the project (humansoftbilisi.tumblr.com)

Recently my lovely wife introduced me to a blog run by Brandon Stanton, an American photographer. Named Humans of New York (or HONY) the blog features the portraits and short stories of colorful New York City inhabitants during their everyday activities. 

Brandon’s original idea was to “create an exhaustive catalogue of the city’s inhabitants,” though eventually he started to include the “snippets” of the human stories alongside the photographs. To me this latter aspect is what makes this project so interesting.

“Why don’t you do the same,” asked my wife, a wonderful storyteller herself. Seeing my hesitation, she added: “you have lots of stories and portraits of Tbilisi people already, and you can add more.”

Revisiting the photos I took in Tbilisi throughout the years made me realize how many interesting people are out there right next to us. Some of them we pass every day without wondering what their lives, worries, or moments of happiness look like.

On this site we will try to gather the portraits, human stories, or just interesting photos from our shuffles through Tbilisi.

The authors
Negin Angoshtari - blog
Temo Bardzimashvili - portfolio site - photo notes blog

twitter.com/humansoftbilisi
facebook.com/HOTbilisi

PHOTOREPORTAGE: Georgian Monk Builds Stairway to Heaven. By Temo Bardzimashvili (eurasianet.org)

(eurasianet.org) Come summertime, getting away from it all is the dream that haunts everyone. One Georgian Orthodox monk, though, has come up with a plan for a lifetime of escape atop a 40-meter-high rock column in central Georgia’s Imereti region.

In pagan times, the towering Katskhi Pillar, located about 10 kilometers from the mining town of Chiatura, was thought to represent a local god of fertility. With the arrival of Christianity in Georgia in the 4th century, it came to represent seclusion from the hurly-burly of ordinary life.

A church was first built atop the rock between the 6th and 8th centuries -- no one knows exactly how or why. Stylites, early Christian ascetics who prayed and fasted on top of pillars, used Katskhi for their devotions until some time in the 15th century, when Georgia was struck by domestic upheaval and invasions by Ottoman Turkey. The remains of one unknown practitioner today lay buried beneath the church.

Father Maxim, a 55-year-old native of Chiatura, says that he has dreamed of living atop the Pillar, like the Stylites, since he was young. “When my friends and I used to come up here to drink outdoors, I always envied that monk who used to live there when I looked at the pillar,” he recalled.

In 1993, Father Maxim took monastic vows, and two years later decided to move to Katskhi. After spending one winter in a grotto beneath the rock column, he received money from a “friend from Tbilisi” to build a new church on its top. The Georgian Orthodox Church’s local eparchy, or regional administration, allegedly granted Father Maxim permission to erect the structure on the site.

Amidst an ongoing religious revival in Georgia, Father Maxim’s mission easily found supporters. More and more people now come to Katskhi to donate money or building materials for the church’s construction -- a generosity that makes the overall cost of the project difficult to estimate, he claims. Many local villagers also volunteer to work on the site for free.

The labor involved, though, can require a head for heights, as well as for matters spiritual. Scaffolding runs halfway up the column; an iron ladder reaches to the top. Builders use ropes to lift heavy construction materials from the ground.

Following the example of the first Stylite, Simeon, Father Maxim does not allow women on the site -- a ban also practiced at pagan shrines in Georgia’s mountain regions of Tusheti and Khevsureti.

Work on the project should be largely finished by the summer of 2011.

Before that date, Father Maxim hopes to secure a blessing from Georgian Orthodox Patriarch Ilia II that would allow the monk to live on top of Katskhi alongside his newly built church. “They told me they allowed me to come here, but not to live up there,” he recounted, laughing. “They told me I was too young then. Now they’ll probably tell me I’m too old.”

The Patriarch’s office could not be reached for comment.

But if the blessing ever comes, Father Maxim knows what he will do -- climb up Katskhi, pull the ladder up after him and live apart from the world’s tumult, once and for all. Editor's Note: Temo Bardzimashvili is a freelance photojournalist based in Tbilisi. 

Photos are here >>>

TRAVEL: Jessica Hynes: Tbilisi or bust (guardian.co.uk)

(guardian.co.uk) Jessica Hynes wanted churches, art, poetry. Her sister? Not so much. Would they get through their city break to the Georgian capital without squabbling?

By Jessica Hynes 
The Guardian, Saturday 26 January 2013

Photograph: Temo Bardzimashvili for the Guardian

The last time I travelled with my sister Zoe was a trip to Turkey 17 years ago. She beat all the men off the backgammon table, I tried to hire a moped without a licence and nearly crashed it, and my mother got so badly sunburned she had to stay in her hotel room. This trip was infinitely more sophisticated – not, as you might think, because we are old bags, but because Tbilisi is heaven on Earth. Not just because you can still smoke, or because the food you eat in every restaurant is fresh, seasonal and unlike anything you've ever eaten, or because you can drink usakhelauri, a wonderful light semi-sweet red wine (I am cradling a bottle to open on my sister's birthday). But also because, despite relentless onslaughts over centuries from unfriendly neighbours, the Georgian culture and spirit remain undimmed.

It was the Georgians I met while filming the BBC show World's Most Dangerous Roads whose enthusiasm, kindness and pride in their country inspired me to return. My sister is a fashion designer and jumped at the chance to join me. She and I travelled a lot as children, to stay with relatives in Canada and America in the summer holidays. As adults, we have both been all over the world for work, but rarely for pleasure. With five children between us and the busy, erratic schedules of self-employed mums, a weekend away from it all felt well overdue.

My intention was to push life's stresses from my sister's head by filling it with the wonders of the city (ie, waffle on at her) – something she let me do, a wry smile at the corner of her mouth.

First up was the Kashveti Church on Rustaveli Avenue. An eclectic array of framed religious paintings climb the walls, but beneath is a grey wash, all the original religious murals gone – the Communist contribution to this beautiful place. My sister and I refrained from whipping out our cameras and capturing a rather handsome portrait of Jesus because it felt disrespectful, but trust me, he really did look a bit like James Franco.

Next door was the National Gallery of Georgia. The gallery space is huge and grand, with comfortable benches for sitting and looking, which is what we did with great pleasure, this trip being a rare chance to evade childcare. We both loved Imeretia – My Mother, a stunning portrait of painter David Kakabadze's mother doing needlework. It made me feel desperately inadequate that I have not, as yet, ever crocheted a pair of socks.

Photograph: Temo Bardzimashvili

Another Georgian artist, Lado Gudiashvili, never painted ears as he felt them to be ugly, and I couldn't help thinking that he would have loved the cafe companion we met later that day – poet Kote Kubaneishvili, who has only one ear. The other was sliced off in a fight. He is famous for posting guerrilla-style poetry across Tbilisi during the dark days of the Russian occupation. The impact of his slogans is somewhat lost in translation, but he told me he once broke into the parliamentary offices and wrote inside the toilet doors something along the lines of, "You're shit."

If you are prone to craft-skills envy, don't come to Georgia: at practically every street corner handmade socks are lovingly laid out. Churchkhela is also sold in abundance – walnuts coated in grape juice, otherwise known as Georgian Snickers – and a healthier, more tasty snack I have not found.

The streets in central Tbilisi are broad and leafy – piazza-like pavements stepping up or down into grand classical buildings, while huge trees usher you into wide squares and balconied side streets. Although the dynamic modern architecture is largely disliked by discerning Tbilisians, I happen to love it and, standing on the other side of the Narikala fortress, you get the full range of styles: old Tbilisi, Communist, classical and new Tbilisi.

If all the excitement of the city gets too much for you – as it certainly did for my sister and me after a night watching Georgian dancers bounce off their knees, drinking bagrationi sparkling wine and smoking like chimneys – there are many trips you can take from Tbilisi. We visited Davit Gareja monastery, a collection of churches and chapels carved into caves on the hillside facing Azerbaijan, about a 90-minute drive away, and headed up the craggy hillside. My sister was excited when her phone read "Welcome to Azerbaijan", as were we all when a young girl walking ahead of us decided we needed some music for our ascent and started to play Pink's Try loudly on her phone. As we reached the summit, we gazed out across the lunar-like landscape to Rihanna's Diamonds.

At the second summit there was more music, as one young man began to sing a Georgian song into the warm, billowing wind. His companion held her scarf above her head in appreciation. Then he broke into a rendition of Nina Simone's Feeling Good that wasn't quite so effortless, and we shuffled away to begin our descent.

By now we were beginning to experience retail withdrawal. So, after freshening up at our sumptuous hotel, we ventured out to a flea market. My sister displayed her sophisticated taste and homemaking skills by buying antique children's books in English, a gorgeous rug and tin teapots, while I bought knives, maps and a pack of cards. I have always envied Zoe three things: her figure, her taste and her eye for a good bit of schmutter.

Our last night was spent in the Pur Pur restaurant on a crumbling Tbilisi square and with floor-to-ceiling windows and enormous lampshades. We drank usakhelauri like it was berry juice and ate fresh mackerel in pomegranate sauce. It was poignant, not just because it was the end of our holiday, but also because we learned that this old square is soon to be demolished. We were there on its very last night, serenaded by a string quartet.

On our final morning, we went to the sulphur baths, housed in ancient brick domes on the edge of Old Tbilisi. The last of our stresses were scrubbed from our skin, and we left Tbilisi renewed in mind, body and soul.

How was it for you? Zoe

Photograph: Temo Bardzimashvili

Jessica and I have always laughed, with each other, but mainly at each other. Humour is the glue that holds our family together. And as we set off, I was struck by how sad I was that we didn't do this more often.
We awoke the first morning to glorious sunshine and the prospect of the kind of idle meander for which Tbilisi is made. There were the obligatory church visits, so Jess could enlighten me with the historical nuggets of which she is so fond. I, however, was imagining how good the antique pews would look in my kitchen. We ate some of the most delicious food I've ever tasted, and smoked like teenagers between courses because we could, and because there were no minors present to wrinkle their tiny noses and tell us not to die.

Mother Georgia is a spectacular monument that looks down over the city. She symbolises the national character: in her left hand is a bowl of wine to greet those who come as friends, in her right a sword for those who come as enemies. We left with plenty of usakhelauri, flea market penknives and some unforgettable memories.

• Jessica Hynes's trip was provided by Regent Holidays and British Airways. Regent offers four-night city breaks to Tbilisi from £1,055 per person, including return flights from London with BA and accommodation at the Tblisi Marriott on a bed-and-breakfast basis. For information on BA Club Europe, go to ba.com.

PHOTODOCUMENTARY: The Unpromised Land. By Temo Bardzimashvili

In 2009, I worked on a short story about a few Meskhetian families. After more than 60 years of exile, they had returned to Abastumani, Georgia - the same village their forefathers were deported from to Central Asia. It was then that my interest grew in this group of people, especially in their traditions and their love for soil.

In 2011, I was commissioned by the European Centre for Minority Issues, Caucasus to document the Meskhetian communities in four different countries - Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Kyrgyzstan. The project was exhibited in Georgia. The exhibition toured Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Akhaltsikhe, Batumi, Gori, and Telavi.

The present book is a compilation of the documentary material that I have gathered from 2009 to 2011. Through the images, I have strived to present a realistic image of their lives and the way the deportation has affected them.

Working on this project has given me the opportunity to learn more about this group of people, and I hope that the present book can do the same for its readers.

Temo Bardzimashvili 

temobardzimashvili.com

temophoto.wordpress.com

georgianphotographers.com/temo bardzimashvili  

eurasianet.org

facebook.com/bardzima

gaia-photos.com/georgia feasting spirits in village

privatephotoreview.com/temo bardzimashvili: meeting with the spirits 
keithrkenney.wordpress.com/a journalist and a photographer

wikinoticia.com/georgia the return of the turks meskheti 

 

Temo Bardzimashvili is a native of Tbilisi, Georgia. After finishing his graduate school in the technical fields, he became interested in photojournalism and graduated cum laude from the Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management. Temo Bardzimashvili works mostly on long-term documentary projects focused on ethnographic, social, and travel photography. His work has been published in a number of international publications, and exhibited both in Georgia and internationally.

 The Unpromised Land (pdf) 

Introduction: Jana Sommerlund

Accompanying text: Negin Angoshtari

Book concept: Negin Angoshtari and Temo Bardzimashvili

Photos: Temo Bardzimashvili

Archive photos: From the private collections of Rafik Efendiev, Bahadır Metan Enveroğlu, Emil Gamidov, Sarvar Lazishvili (Safarov), Sona Ulfanova, and Gyunesh Tursunova.

Design: Tornike Lordkipanidze

Cover photo: A Meskhetian house in Medrese, Azerbaijan.

© All photos copyrights belong to Temo Bardzimashvili except for pages 126 through 135.

© Book copyrights belong to ECMI, Caucasus except for pages 126 through 135.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the copyright holders.

ISBN 978-9941-0-4856-2

Published by

European Centre for Minority Issues – Caucasus

© 2012 European Centre for Minority Issues – Caucasus

www.repatriation.ge

www.ecmicaucasus.org

Printed in Georgia by Cezanne

+++

Introduction

As part of the massive repressions of the Soviet regime, a large group of people were deported from southern Georgia to Central Asia. They were mostly the inhabitants of Meskheti - a historical region now split between Georgia and Turkey, who throughout their history were subjected to conflicting interests and influences from the Ottoman and Russian Empires.

During the Second World War, the Soviet hostility towards the Meskhetians, and other Muslim groups in Georgia intensified. In November 1944, the Muslim population of Meskheti and Ajara region– including Karapapakhs, Kurds, Turks, Roms, Hemshins, and the Meskhetian Turks were forcefully gathered at the train stations and transported in cargo carriages to three Central Asian republics: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

According to the official figures, a total of 94,955 people were deported1. The journey to Central Asia lasted between 18 and 22 days. Due to the harsh transportation conditions, many of the deportees, including children and elders became ill or died. After arriving in Central Asia, the deportees were distributed between different collective farms (kolkhozs) and factories. They were provided with housing, but were prohibited from leaving their assigned districts. It is estimated that 3,000 people died during the transportation, and thousands more perished in the first years of exile due to the rough climate and the harsh living conditions 2.

Meskhetians are Sunni Muslims, and speak the Eastern Anatolian dialect of Turkish language. The Soviet rulers perceived them to be the Turkish fifth column, and they were accused of treason, espionage, smuggling, and other crimes. The deportation has made a big influence on how the Meskhetians define their identity and their lives in exile.

After Josef Stalin died, the restrictions against the Meskhetians were partially lifted. From 1956 onwards, they were allowed to resettle in any Soviet Republic except for Georgia. Many Meskhetians moved to Azerbaijan and Russia in order to be closer to their homeland, hoping one day to return to Georgia.

In 1969, a small group of Meskhetians managed to return, and to settle in Georgia’s western regions of Guria and Samtredia. These early returnees still live in the country, and feel fully integrated into the Georgian society. Over 40 families have returned afterwards and they now reside in their historical homeland in Samtskhe-Javakheti.

After the demise of the Soviet Union, and upon becoming a member of the Council of Europe in 1999, Georgia has committed itself to repatriate the deported population. In 2007, the Georgian Parliament adopted the law “On Repatriation of Persons Forcefully Sent into Exile from the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia by the Former USSR in the 40’s of the 20th Century”. This created a legal framework for the Meskhetian repatriation. By the end of 2010 – the official deadline for submission of applications – the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation, and Refugees has received 5,841 applications covering about 9,000 individuals. By the time of this publication about 800 Meskhetian applicants were granted repatriate status.

The majority of the Meskhetians today live in eight countries of the world: Turkey, Azerbaijan Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the United States of America.

Meskhetians prefer to settle compactly in family groups. This pattern of social organization represents an essential strategy to survive adversities that this group has faced during and after their deportation. In many cases, the Meskhetian settlements in the other countries resemble the composition and the structure of the villages and the communities they were deported from.

As Muslims, the majority of Meskhetians adhere to the Hanafi rite of Sunni Islam. They practice religious traditions by praying, fasting, and celebrating the main religious holidays, such as Kurban Bayram, and Ramazan Bayram. They also observe the ancient feast of Nowruz. Furthermore, the Meskhetians have preserved and practiced some of the old Christian traditions – such as placing open scissors resembling a cross on the chest of a deceased, or a bride drawing a cross with honey on her husband’s door.

The eastern Anatolian dialect of Turkish is the spoken language between the Meskhetians, regardless of where they live today. Due to the constant migration and re-settlement in several countries, many Meskhetians know several languages such as Russian, Azeri, Turkish, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek depending on their countries of residence. Georgian is spoken only among those who have returned and settled in Georgia.

The Meskhetian society is a rather traditional society with a clear division of gender roles. Meskhetian families are led by the eldest men, who are the heads of the families, and are traditionally treated with a profound respect from the younger members of their kin. Women have secondary status and are usually subordinated to their husbands, fathers or brothers. The father of the family is considered to be the breadwinner, while the mother is perceived to be the hearth keeper. This gender division plays an important role in the lives of many Meskhetians, especially the women who are required to seek permission from their fathers and husbands in choosing their education or work.

Meskhetians observe the births, the marriages, and the funerals with a mixture of Muslim rituals and customs specific to places of their residence. Thus, upon their integration in the local communities, many customs are adopted from Turkish, Russian, Azeri or Georgian traditions.

The author of this book focuses on the important details of the Meskhetian life. Rituals, customs, family, gender roles, work, leisure, and finally their longing for the historical homeland are depicted through documentary style of photography.

The majority of the photos presented here have been exhibited in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, and in the regional cities of Gori, Akhaltsikhe, Kutaisi, Batumi, and Telavi. The exhibitions were organized by the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) within the framework of the EU-funded programme “Supporting the Repatriation of Persons Deported from Georgia in the 1940s and their descendants” implemented by the European Centre for Minority Issues Caucasus and Action Against Hunger, International. I hope this book will enhance the awareness on deportations and plights of the deported population among a broader public in Georgia and beyond.

Jana Sommerlund

ECMI Caucasus International Project Manager

Tbilisi, September 2012

PHOTOGRAPHY: Tamar Kiknadze - By Temo Bardzimashvili

Tamar Kiknadze, dubbed Mother Madonna, is sitting in a half built house in the center of Tbilisi , which she uses as a shelter for herself, four dogs and more than ten cats. Kiknadze, homeless herself, says she started sheltering abandoned pets three years ago, when she picked up a stray dog and started taking care of him. Kiknadze, very protective of her charges, gets funds from private donations to make sure they the pets are vaccinated and don't lack good food and medicine.

Georgia Photo: Underground Exploration. By Temo Bardzimashvili (eurasianet.org)

Nika Gugeshashvili, a local guide, looks at a stalagmite in a cave around Oni, a major town in the mountain region of Racha, Georgia. An adjacent region to the intensively promoted Svaneti, Racha remains mostly unknown to foreign tourists.

Temo Bardzimashvili is a freelance photojournalist based in Tbilisi.

BLOG: Live Flesh. Photoessay by Temo Bardzimashvili. (temophoto.wordpress.com)

 

A friend of mine once told me a story: in the days of his studentship, for whatever reason, he really wanted to visit а morgue (well, we all have something we could be called weirdos for). Being an engineering major himself, organizing such a trip did not seem an easy task for him. Finally he managed to find some students from the medical department, who offered him to join them during a group practice. When the students entered the mortuary, they were nearly knocked out by strong smell of formalin. The following scene they observed was not too helpful for their stomachs: next to a freshly dissected body a group of people in what was supposed to be white robes were having lunch, chasing home-made sandwiches with shots of vodka. Neither my friend, nor his stomach are sissy, but for the first time in their lives the latter felt rather uncomfortable. The group of future bad-ass doctors, and my friend among them, stamped hesitantly by the door, as the dissectors warmly invited them to the “table.”

Further Text: temophoto.wordpress.com

PHOTOGRAPHY: Not One Moment, but Years. Interview with Temo Bardzimashvili. By By Zara Katz (lens.blogs.nytimes.com)

(lens.blogs.nytimes.com) Temo Bardzimashvili, a freelance photographer, received his master’s degree in 2009 from the Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management. He has published work in The Washington Post, Bloomberg News, The Financial Times and The National, an English-language newspaper in Abu Dhabi. Mr. Bardzimashvili lives in Tbilisi, Georgia.

His conversation with Zara Katz has been edited.

Q. What is going on in this image?

A. I took this during the celebration of Ramadan in Azerbaijan. It is in an Azeri village where I was working on a project about Meskhetian Turks last year. In this village, most of the population is Azeri but about 25 percent are Meskhetian. This image is describing the end of the Ramadan prayer. In this mosque, most of the worshipers are Meskhetian.

Q. Why did you choose this image?

A. I can’t say that this is my favorite image but it is symbolic for me. It represents the multi-layeredness of images. I like images that people tend to return to, when the viewer is struck not only by the visual attractiveness, but also the tiny details that they discover later. Also, this particular photograph symbolizes quite a long time. It is not one particular moment that creates this image, but the whole period of time taking photos.

Nasrollah Kasraian: Celebration of Pir-e-Shahriar festival in the village of Oraman, Iran. Inspiration: From “Our Homeland Iran”
Photographer: Nasrollah Kasraian

I have taken pictures in different mosques and prayers during the last five years. Sometimes when you take a picture you try to concentrate on one element, like shoes. When people enter a mosque, they take their shoes off. It is visually attractive. Shoes are symbolic – they represent the worshiper. Of course I have taken pictures with shoes in mosques. But in this picture, I saw elements of all my previous mosque pictures and prayer pictures.

Q. When did you first see this photo?

A. I discovered him a year and a half ago during a trip to Tehran. I was looking for a photo book that was about Tehran and was lucky to come across this book called “Our Homeland Iran.” He is one of the greatest photographers that I have seen. He is really deep and operates with colors very well.

Most important for me was something that I discovered later when I checked on his background: He is one of those photographers who works on long-term projects. It took him 10 to 12 years to make this book. He said he worked on this photograph for two years to take this particular image. He was looking for the right situation and the right light.

Q. How did this image influence your work?

A. Most of the time we take snapshots. There might be good snapshots, but we don’t let ourselves work on images for a sufficient amount of time. To me, the Kasraian picture is a long-term picture. He had taken other pictures from other ceremonies which led to this image.

Working for a long time is not the only means of taking a good picture. Also, getting close to people. In order to get a deep picture you have to go through some stages to get there.

Just like Kasraian, I like to work on covering different ethnicities and traditions. Kasraian took an image of not a single person, but an ethnic group.

Follow @nytimesphoto and @ZaraKatZ on Twitter.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Svaneti: From Tradition to Modernity. By by Temo Bardzimashvili

Georgian photographer Temo Bardzimashvili will present new works in an exhibtion at the Collaborative Reserach Centre »Representations« at Humboldt University, Berlin. 

Svaneti: Meeting with the Spirits 
Svaneti: Gold River

Date: June 7th, 2012, 8 p.m.

Venue: Collaborative Research Centre »Representations«

Mohrenstraße 40-41

10117 Berlin

 

The Collaborative Research Centre »Representations« brings together around fifty professors, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students. It consists of fifteen subprojects. Six working groups promote interdisciplinary academic discussions on subjects such as violence, identity, law, knowledge, visual representation, and space.

The centre’s researchers are working in the fields of history, anthropology, social science, and art history. They are interested in how representations create social orders, and how social orders in turn give rise to representations. They analyse situations of crisis and upheaval by means of intertemporal and intercultural comparisons.

The centre combines a great variety of regional expertise. Researchers work on societies in Europe, Africa, Eastern Europe, Central and Southeast Asia. The centre cooperates with the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin University of the Arts and Zentrum Moderner Orient. It is funded by the German Research Foundation.

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Humboldt-Univeryity Berlin: Repräsentationen sozialer Ordnungen im Wandel

Sonderforschungsbereich 640

PHOTOGRAPHER: Temo Bardzimashvili from Georgia (photojournalism.ge)

Temo: Having mostly technical and scientific background (BS in physics from Tbilisi State University, Georgia in 2001; MS in Industrial Mathematics from Michigan State University, USA in 2005; Later working for two years as a software developer in a Georgian phone company), I got interested in photography about four years ago. While initially shooting mostly for pleasure, two years ago I began to use photography professionally when I started writing and taking photos for regional environmental magazine called Caucasus Environment.

In 2007 I applied to Certified Practical Course in Photojournalism at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, which sparked the interest for photojournalism in me. After completing it I decided to enroll English Master's Degree Program in Journalism and Media Management at Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management at GIPA, where I study now. While studying I continue working as a writer and photographer for different local issues.

I also assist at Certified Practical Course in Photojournalism since 2007.

In August 2008, during the Russian-Georgian conflict, I had a good opportunity to raise my journalistic skills while working as a reporter and a photographer for such issues as The Washington Post and EurasiaNet online magazine. I continue collaborating with these issues presently.

more here: www.photojournalism.ge