Photography - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 1 - 6 of 9

Kazakhstan Considers Restricting Photography and Filming Without Consent

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Culture and Information is considering new regulations on photography and video recording of individuals without their prior consent. The initiative was announced by Minister Aida Balaeva, who addressed potential amendments to the Law “On Mass Media.” According to Balaeva, the proposal does not entail a ban but rather seeks to clarify the rules for filming in public spaces. Responding to media inquiries, she noted that the ministry regularly receives complaints from citizens concerned about being recorded without permission, particularly in content used for pranks or misleading narratives. While current legislation allows individuals to contest the unauthorized use of their image, the ministry is exploring whether additional legal provisions are warranted. Balaeva invited journalists to join a working group to evaluate the matter further. The minister dismissed claims that the proposed changes are intended to shield public officials. The speculation follows the recent circulation of a video on social media showing deputies appearing inattentive during President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s address. “We are already used to being filmed everywhere. But we are citizens of this country too, and we also have the right to privacy,” Balaeva stated. She emphasized that the objective is not to hinder journalistic work but to address rising concerns over misuse. Earlier drafts of the proposed regulation suggested requiring journalists and bloggers to obtain explicit consent before publishing an individual’s image, including online. In cases of republication, editing, or adding commentary, renewed consent would be necessary. However, exceptions are proposed for filming public events, documenting official functions, and materials deemed in the public interest. Gulmira Birzhanova, a lawyer at the Legal Media Center, warned that the measure could lead to excessive bureaucracy and potential abuse. She argued that the initiative contradicts existing legislation and Kazakhstan’s Constitution. As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, earlier this year the ministry also proposed strengthening penalties for inciting interethnic and interreligious discord.

The Unseen Animals of Central Asia: A Photography Exhibit by Bogna Wiltowska

For six months, Polish photographer Bogna Wiltowska documented animals in farms and slaughterhouses in Central Asia as a We Animals Fellow. On World Farmed Animals Day (Oct 2nd), a virtual exhibition of her work will open, allowing everyone to witness the untold stories of the animals Bogna encountered in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan - countries experiencing the gradual industrialization of animal agriculture. Explaining her choice to focus on animals in this yet unexplored region, Bogna said, “Until now, the lives of farmed animals in Central Asia have remained largely undocumented. At the same time, I knew that an animal advocacy movement led by passionate grassroots activists was slowly beginning to emerge there. This was the perfect moment to take a closer look at what was happening and give animals a voice in countries where they aren’t often considered.” [caption id="attachment_36666" align="aligncenter" width="734"] Image: Bogna Wiltowska[/caption] Every year, We Animals awards a small number of Animal Photojournalism Fellowships, which support up-and-coming photojournalists to tell the stories of animals used for food. Fellows work remotely with We Animals’ founder, award-winning photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur, for approximately six months. The Fellow receives funding to cover project costs and a stipend for the duration of the Fellowship, totalling $6,500 CAD ($4,670). Based in Poland, Bogna is the Director of Investigations at the non-profit Otwarte Klatki and has worked in several countries documenting industrial farming and rescuing animals. Despite witnessing enormous suffering, she remains committed to a better world for animals. [caption id="attachment_36667" align="aligncenter" width="732"] Image: Bogna Wiltowska[/caption] Bogna was awarded the fellowship in recognition of her experience, well-planned project, and desire to grow in the field of animal photojournalism. Her project illuminates underrepresented animals and provides advocates in Central Asia with strong visuals for their work. Reflecting on this project, Bogna said, “The Fellowship was one of the most important experiences in my work for animals. After over a decade of working for animals and managing a large organization with an investigations team, I felt deeply tired and overwhelmed. The Fellowship placed me in a completely new role. This time, I was the one receiving support (instead of giving it), and I had the chance to learn from the best in areas where I had previously been self-taught.” [caption id="attachment_36668" align="aligncenter" width="1163"] Image: weanimals.org[/caption] The virtual exhibition will run from October 2nd to 31st, 2025. The free event is entirely virtual and available in English. It contains some graphic imagery.

The Photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky: A Glimpse of a Lost World

Using the emerging technology of color photography, Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky (1863–1944) undertook several photographic expeditions to capture images of the Russian Empire. Most of his work took place between 1909 and 1915, though some photographs date as early as 1905. At the time, the Russian Empire stretched roughly 7,000 miles east to west and 3,000 miles north to south. It encompassed one-sixth of the Earth’s land surface, making it the largest empire in history, spanning what are now eleven time zones. [caption id="attachment_32008" align="aligncenter" width="484"] Abutment for a dam and house belonging to the government. [Kuzminskoe] Prokudin-Gorsky, Sergey Mikhaylovich, 1912[/caption]Tsar Nicholas II supported Prokudin-Gorsky’s ambitious endeavor by granting him travel permits and access to various modes of transportation, including trains, boats, and automobiles. His journeys are preserved in photographic albums that include the original negatives. One album also features miscellaneous images, including scenes from other parts of Europe. The photographs capture a broad array of subjects: religious architecture and shrines (churches, cathedrals, mosques, and monasteries); religious and secular artifacts (such as vestments, icons, and items linked to saints, former Tsars, and the Napoleonic Wars); infrastructure and public works (railroads, bridges, dams, and roads); a variety of industries (including mining, textile production, and street vending); agricultural scenes (like tea plantations and field work); portraits, which often showed people in traditional dress, as well as cityscapes, villages, natural landscapes, and blooming plants. Besides being a photographer, Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky was a chemist who is renowned for his pioneering contributions to color photography in the early 20th century. In 1901, he traveled to Berlin to study photochemistry before returning to Russia, where he outfitted a railroad car as a mobile darkroom with the support of Tsar Nicholas II. As he traveled across the Russian Empire, he documented its people and landscapes, eventually earning recognition in Russia, Germany, and France. In 1906, he was appointed head of the photography section of Fotograf-Liubitel, Russia’s leading photography journal. One of his most famous works is a color portrait of Leo Tolstoy, taken in 1908. “By capturing the result of artistic inspiration in the full richness of its colors on the light-sensitive photographic plate, we pass the priceless document to future generations,” wrote Prokudin-Gorsky. As a nobleman, inventor, professor, and pioneer of color photography in Russia, Prokudin-Gorsky had a deep sense of national identity and heritage. Although he was unable to complete his grand project due to the outbreak of World War I and increasing social unrest across the Russian Empire, he still managed to capture photographs in regions such as the Urals, Siberia, Crimea, Dagestan, Finland, and Central Asia, as well as along the Volga and Oka rivers. Unfortunately, much of his photographic archive was lost in the aftermath of the 1917 Revolution. Prokudin-Gorsky created unique black-and-white negatives using a triple-frame method, taking three separate exposures through blue, green, and red filters. This technique allowed the images to be printed or projected in color, often for magic lantern slide presentations. The complete collection of 1,902 triple-frame glass...

Central Asian Art

Threads of Power: Women, Heritage, and the Art of the Silk Road

From June 24 to July 10, 2025, the Minerva Association will be presenting the exhibition Weaving the History of Central Asia at the Centre Paris Anim’ Espace Beaujon. This exhibition brings together the artworks of Fatimah Hossaini and the textile creations of Beltepà, paying tribute to the women of the region through the motifs and textile skills inherited from the Silk Road. In Central Asia, weaving, embroidery, and sewing have long been passed down from mother to daughter, practiced within the home and shared among craftswomen. These domestic yet deeply skilled practices embody an often-overlooked heritage, one that is both intimate and monumental. The exhibition sheds light on how art and fashion can transcend cultural and geographic boundaries, revealing stories of resilience, identity, and creativity. The exhibition celebrates women not only as artists and artisans but as powerful custodians of heritage. The handmade garments by the women of Beltepà, paired with Fatimah Hossaini’s striking photographic portraits, convey a sense of strength, dignity, and continuity. Together, these works send a compelling message: that of women’s empowerment and the intergenerational transmission of ancestral knowledge. Fatimah Hossaini’s artwork delves into themes of gender, identity, and cultural resilience. Her portraits of women in Central Asia illuminate lives and traditions that are often rendered invisible, offering a bold visual language that honors their presence and voices. The suzanis featured in the exhibition are rich with meaning. Every motif, color, and pattern tells a story, echoing the layered influences of the Silk Road and the women who continue these traditions today. Beltepà reinterprets traditional Uzbek fabrics — atlas, adras, bakhmal, and suzani — through a contemporary lens. Her collections merge craftsmanship with innovation, turning textiles into wearable artworks that reflect a living, evolving cultural identity.

Historic Photo

Photograph of a Kazakh Female Harvester Preserved in a U.S. Library

In the 1940s, British researchers William and Zelda Coates traveled to Kazakhstan and later published a book titled Soviets in Central Asia. The book included a previously unpublished photograph of a Kazakh female combine operator. The English caption identified her as "A typical Kazakh collective farm woman – Kudyash Avnimasova, of the 'Red Kombine' farm." The book also offers detailed insights into Kazakhstan’s agriculture and industry during the Soviet era. The authors highlight the significant progress made in food production over the previous decade, noting the establishment of numerous factories in southern Kazakhstan. They report that the country had five sugar factories, four distilleries, ten canneries, and three starch factories. Additionally, they emphasize the impact of large-scale industrialization, pointing out that Kazakhstan’s industrial workforce grew dramatically from just 20,000 in 1920 to nearly one million by early 1945. The Coates focus not only on economic and industrial developments but also on the aspirations, perspectives, and reform-driven mindset of smaller nations. The inclusion of the Kazakh female combine operator’s photograph is intentional; it complements the broader discussion on production and labor in the region. The authors present data showing that in 1938, Kazakhstan had 191 state farms, 363 machine and tractor stations, 25,646 tractors, and 9,522 combines. By 1947, those numbers had grown to 254 state farms and 670 collective farms, with 12,000 combines and tens of thousands of tractors operating in the fields. There is a common saying: 'History is a mirror.' Indeed, recorded history does not fade; rather, its significance deepens over time. The image of this female combine operator, preserved in the British scholars’ book housed in the Gelman Library at George Washington University, serves as a powerful representation of the resilience, determination, and vitality of Kazakh women in the 20th century.

Grounding the Stars: Andrew McConnell’s Lens on Space and the Steppe

Award-winning photographer and filmmaker Andrew McConnell has dedicated his career to illuminating the world’s overlooked regions and underreported stories. He has a distinctive ability to examine major global issues and events from fresh, often unexpected perspectives. Ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances are the focus of McConnell’s lens. From conflict zones in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the hidden lives of the Sahrawi people in Western Sahara, his work frequently highlights human endurance in challenging environments. His new book, Some Worlds Have Two Suns, takes a different direction. It explores the vast, remote Kazakh Steppe, where the sparse local population coexists with the high-tech world of space travel. The project began in 2014 after he filmed his documentary Gaza. While decompressing at home in Ireland, he watched a BBC documentary about a Soyuz spacecraft landing in the Kazakh Steppe. The stark contrast between destruction and human achievement struck him. “I turned to my parents and said, ‘I’m gonna go and see that.’” That moment sparked an eight-year journey documenting the Russian ground crews recovering astronauts and the communities living beneath these celestial homecomings. TCA: You visited the Kazakh Steppe multiple times to document the Soyuz landings. How many trips did you make and what were the challenges of reaching such a remote location? Andrew: I probably made a dozen. I would join the ground crew in Karaganda, which is not far from Astana, and from there they head out to the Steppe, and depending on whether it's winter or summer they have different vehicles for either one. In summer, the Steppe is fine to drive on, so they have four by fours and we head out and set up camp the day before the Soyuz arrives. They know the exact time the Soyuz will land, right down to the second, and it always goes to the same location, which is a group of tombs. You can see those in the book, the two horsemen beside these tombs. These are old nomadic burial tombs, maybe 300 years old, so that, initially, was very interesting to me… you know, what are these? The Steppe is this unending boundless void of nothingness, just flat grassland. At first, as a photographer, it was quite underwhelming because visually, how do you make that interesting? But here were these tombs in the middle of nowhere and it was instantly fascinating. That was always the base camp. I don’t know if that’s where Rocosmos aimed Soyuz, but that’s where it came into the atmosphere every time I saw it. It would enter the atmosphere above these tombs. The parachute deploys and then it depends on the wind because they can drift for 20 kilometers. A couple of times it was a windless day, and the Soyuz dropped within sight of these tombs. I had a fantasy that it would drop in the middle of it. [caption id="attachment_28250" align="aligncenter" width="2000"] Nomadic burial tombs, Soyuz landing zone, Kazakhstan, 2018; image: Andrew McConnell[/caption] TCA: What shifted your focus from the...