CAPture Photo Contest Winners

Central Asia in Focus

Photo by Thijs Broekkamp

A Kyrgyz girl offering visitors traditional hospitality in the lower reaches of the Aksu Valley, Pamir-Alai Mountains. Kyrgyzstan, 1996. The photo was taken when I was leading an REI Adventures trek.

DANIEL WAUGH

About the Author

Daniel Waugh is Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, Seattle. He is a specialist on pre-Modern Russian History and during the decade prior to his retirement in 2006 taught a range of courses on Central Asian history, with an emphasis on the historic Silk Roads. For over a decade he edited The Silk Road, the annual of The Silkroad Foundation. He has lectured in public programs at a number of art museums. His photos frequently appear in academic publications and are being archived in on-line databases, among them ArchNet, sponsored by the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT. In 2005 and 2007, he participated in archaeological excavations in Mongolia; on several occasions he has traveled in China on academic programs co-sponsored by the Silkroad Foundation and Yale University. In 2010, he received a Mellon Foundation Emeritus Fellowship, which supported extensive travel in Iran, Turkey, Syria and Jordan.

More about Daniel Waugh

In the Tibetan grasslands, milking the animals (here a yak) is a daily task. 2019. The baby is allowed to suckle to get the milk flowing, then separated from the mother while the milking takes place. Yaks thrive at high altitude. Apart from their milk and meat, they provide wool whose thread is used to make the tents and the ropes that anchor them. It is clear that herding can be profitable: nowadays one can see SUVs parked next to the tents during the summer grazing season.
Another photo taken at that same summer camp in the Kaying Valley in 1996. The women were processing the wool, spinning thread using traditional spindles and stuffing quilts.
The men at the Labtse (arrow) festival in the Amdo grasslands, here using a sheep-skin as a bellows to fan the fire. 2019.
In Mongolia, the Naadam festivals embody important elements of traditional culture. Archery is one of the competitions, here at the Naadam held not far from the historic Mongol capital of Karakorum in the Orkhon Valley. 2005.
In the Khatuugin Gol, near Bayan Olgii in western Mongolia, 2005. The traditions of training raptors for hunting have been revived; there are competitions to show off the skills. Here is a Kazakh with his hunting eagle.

A donkey rider stormed off the mountain when he saw me driving and asked if he could get a lift because he hurt his foot. His friends then chase us behind the car while laughing and cheering wildly.

Thijs Broekkamp

About the Author

Dutch travel and documentary photographer, filmmaker and writer Thijs Broekkamp (1993) is on a mission to change the Western perception of the Stans. The countries of Central Asia still hold a mysterious, obscure image and are rife with prejudices and misconceptions. Thijs initiated his project to change this. This project saw him travelling for a few months through all the Stans for the first time in 2018 and now continues to travel in these countries for this. It has led to founding his own charity to support the work of an local NGO in Afghanistan he became personally involved with an a surprising friendship with a local Tajik in a remote village in the Pamirs, whom he stays in close touch with, now considers a close friend and visits when possible in his village.

More about Thijs Broekkamp

The local connections provided Thijs Broekkamp with interesting insights about life in this region. A region where life is not always easy and traveling not always comfortable. But where life feels real and its people are sincere and authentic. Where strangers become friends and where you are welcomed in people’s homes no matter your race, religious preference or beliefs. It was this mentality and hospitality of the people, the unbelievably beautiful landscapes, fascinating ancient culture and traditions, the many unexpected turn of events and encounters with locals and general warmth of the countries that made Thijs fall in love with the region. He believes that Western societies have a lot to learn from the mentality of the people in Central Asia. 

  • Tajikistan: The mother of one of the persons who invited me in his home to play Tajik songs for me. In Dasht village.
  • Kyrgyzstan: At the World Nomad Games, where locals dress in their traditional attire to celebrate their cultural customs.
  • Afghanistan: an early morning at the blue mosque in Mazar e Sharif. Life seemed very peaceful at this mosque, where families were gathering and enjoying themselves. The only place where I was able to photograph women and where also more moderately dressed women could be found.
  • Tajikistan: near Karakul all the way in the north.
  • Tajikistan: Bulunkul village.
  • KAZAKHSTAN: THE POSTCARD KAZAKHSTAN, TAKEN ON THE STEPPE NEAR THE CHARYN NATIONAL PARK.
  • Kazakhstan: just passing through a little dusty town in the Altyn Emel national park. 
  • Tajikistan: the Pamir mountains on the border with Afghanistan.
  • Afghanistan: A man sitting at the Kabul bird market who asked me to take his picture.
  • Tajikistan: Bulunkul village.
  • Tajikistan: Bulunkul village.
  • Uzbekistan: Khiva. Early morning in Khiva when the locals are on their way to work, mostly in tourism businesses. 
  • Afghanistan: A man overlooking the narrow, crowded streets below him at the Kabul bird market.
  • Afghanistan: A friendly kebab seller in Pansjhir valley. Kebab features heavily on their menu and is incredibly tasty. The Afghan food was definitely one of the tastiest in Central Asia.
  • Tajikistan: The mother of my Tajik friend, who I came to visit in his village of Anderob. The whole family lives in the same house, as is common in this culture.
  • Turkmenistan: the Yangikala canyons. Meaning fire fortress. Jaw dropping set of carved out canyons deep in the desert. The monontone desert even had our 2 guides lost their way a few times.
  • Turkmenistan: the remote Damla village. Located in the middle of the Karakum desert and reached by several hours of demanding drive through sand dunes.
  • Turkmenistan: I spend the night in the yurt of this man’s family in Damla village.
  • Turkmenistan: the wedding palace in Asghabat. One of the many extravagant buildings in the city, while all have a octagon shape incorporated in it some how which is featured in the national emblem of the country. If you get married here you must have your photo taken in front of a portrait of the President
  • Kyrgyzstan: Inylcheck town. A former Soviet Union mining town located deep in the Tien Shan mountains. After the collapse of the Soviet Union everybody left the town, except a few families who remained. All the houses, buildings and even mining equipment have been left standing.
  • Kyrgyzstan: At the World Nomad Games.
  • Kyrgyzstan: Kok-Boru, the notorious game played with a dead goat carcass. 
  • Tajikistan: Little boy in Dasht village, overlooking Anderob village. Left of the river is Afghanistan.
    Tajikistan: same description
Tommaso Aguzzi

About the Author

Tommaso Aguzzi is an Italian graduate in Global Studies with a strong interest in the post-Soviet region. He completed his Bachelor’s Degree in International Development and Cooperation at the University of Bologna, and an Erasmus Mundus Master’s Degree in Global Studies at the University of Vienna and Roskilde University. He is currently studying Documentary Photography and working on different personal photo projects. After completing his graduate studies, he moved to Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he worked as a language teacher, interned in a non-profit, and learned the Russian language. During his stay in Central Asia, he had the opportunity to make a 2-month journey through Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

More about Tommaso Aguzzi

Man praying at a mosque located in the area of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi,
a UNESCO World Heritage site in Turkistan, Kazakhstan.

Tourists climbing the so-called “Singing Dunes” (Поющий бархан) at the Altyn-Emel National Park, Kazakhstan. (Tommaso Aguzzi 2018)
Abandoned harbor facilities in the city of Aral, Kazakhstan. (Tommaso Aguzzi 2018)
Rice seller at the Nukus bazaar, Nukus, Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan. (Tommaso Aguzzi 2018)
Kasia ploskonka

About the Author

Currently a PhD candidate at SOAS, University of London with a focus on autonomy and agency within contemporary art of post-Soviet Central Asia. She has completed her BFA with an Emphasis in Art History, Theory & Criticism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), and MA in Contemporary Art from Sotheby’s Institute of Art London; and has concurrently been working for Frieze Art Fairs within data and insights.

More about Kasia Ploskonka


Photo: Outside of the Ichan-Kala in Khiva, Uzbekistan, near the eastern gate of Polvon Darvoza, two women prepare for the day by baking meat filled pastries called samsa. 

With a starting point in the Karakol valley, Kyrgyzstan, this 50km two night and three day hike summits at the pass of 3,900m by the Ala-Kul Lake in the Terskey Alatau mountain range. The hike finished with a descent through the Altyn Arashan valley and into the hot springs found in Aksuu.
This family run yurt camp, called “Joki’, is located within the summer highland pastures surrounding the 3,000m high Song-Kol Lake in Kyrgyzstan.
Assel Choibekova

About the Author

Assel Choibekova is a Communications Director with 15+ years of experience in promoting private sector development, financial sector, and corporate governance for IFC, International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group and U.S. Agency for International Development.

Assel’s photos won several photo contests and were featured on printed calendars and displayed at photo exhibitions.

Assel Choibekova’s Portfolio

Photo: 100% Cotton, Turkestan, Kazakhstan.

Reconstruction of the Mausoleum of Khawaja Ahmed Yasawi in Turkestan, Kazakhstan. Commissioned in 1389 by Timur, who ruled the area as part of the expansive Timurid Empire, the mausoleum was declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Combined Collection
  • Women passengers. Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Photo by Rigina Bakhshaliyeva.
  • Novruz Celebrations, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Photo by Cristina Boboc.
  • Darvaza Gas Crater, Turkmenistan. Photo by Tetyana Ivanishena
  • Ladies with a stone ball, Turkmenistan. Photo by Cristina Boboc. “I am a PhD Candidate in Social Science at Ghent university, Belgium. When I am not writing my dissertation, I take long walks talking to people and taking pictures. I love taking portraits and capture the life of the streets in photography or films.”

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