Svaneti, July 2007

More from my Ushguli-K'ala walk on July 28.

Bottom: Svan roadkill. This led to...

Next up: one of a set of shots of me walking. Wide angle lens pointed down and slow shutter speeds to blur the motion.

Top 2: a couple of frames from near K'ala, the top one with Ushba's first appearance from the road. In this shot, the path near centre is the beginning of a 1/2 hour climb up to Kvirike Church, where Kvirikoba happens every year on July 28.

Today I leave again for Ushguli, just for 2 or 3 days via Lentekhi, with some kind friends who are Land Rovering my winter things up for me. I hope to move to the village by the end of October. I think this will mark my first visit to Svaneti in a September. Here's a link to keep you busy until I return:
http://play.blogger.com/
There you'll find a realtime feed of the photos being added to blogger.com from around the world. It's somewhat habit-forming.

Svaneti, July 2007

Late July features the most important religious festival in Svaneti, Kvirikoba, based in K'ala's Kvirike church. Some more information:

"Kvirikaoba-Svaneti
The religious holiday – Kvirikaoba is celebrated in the village of K'ala in Svaneti on 28th of July. This is the day of torment of St. Kvirike and St. Ivlita, This day is called as a “Lagurka” in Svaneti. St. Kvirike Church was built in XI century and it is considered to be one of the most important monuments of Georgia architecture. Several valuable icons of St. Kvirike of XI-XII centuries are kept here. The church's frescoes were painted by the painter Tevdore (who was the painter of David the Builder)."
(From http://www.szs.gov.ge/eng/reg_dgesascaulebi.htm)

So in July 2007 I walked 20 km from Ushguli to K'ala and back for the festival, along with several other Georgians and Svans. Here are a few pictures from the way down, early in the morning.

Ushguli, July 2007

The bottom 2 frames show results of not using a polarising filter (lower) and using it on maximum setting (upper) in order to cut down on light from reflective surfaces. The item being photographed is a double mortar & pestle used for making the famous Svan Salt. (Topologists note: this mortar is continuously deformable from a torus...)

Next up, making Khachapuri, cheese bread, in the house in which we were staying.

Top 2, more scenes from Ushguli and environs.

Svaneti, July 2007

Some of the scanned images from my early morning walk up above Ushguli which resulted in the 2-shot pond reflection panorama of a few days ago.

Bottom, Tamar's Tower fortress at about 7 am.

Next up, part of the Shkhara glacier wall towering over a tiny Lamaria Church.

Then: Ushba at top left of the frame; part of Ushguli at bottom centre, and the Tamar Tower fortress at bottom right.

Next up, the entire Shkhara wall and Valley, again with tiny Lamaria Church at bottom.

Finally, above, the Shkhara pond reflection again, a single-frame shot.

What a privelege to have such scenery to photograph, and such good weather for it! Is it any wonder that I feel driven to do what I do when I'm in the mountains?

Ushguli, July 2007

I certainly was busy during that week in July. Hope no one out there is sick of Ushguli images yet. I definitely am not, but there will be an interlude with other work soon.
The bottom shot in this set is another in my "fascination with cracked paint" series.

Ushguli, July 2007

The events mentioned in the second picture from the top happened while I was in Svaneti. These may not be the highest mountains in the world, but they can still be deadly.

Ushguli, July 2007

Nothing compares.

the W()RD: Saatchi Online

1) Who could ignore a site that has up to 50 million hits per day and offers free showoff space for artists? Not I. See my page there at:
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/photographers/index.php?inc=details&id=58810

2) My NeoCounter has recorded 1000 visitors from 48 countries as of today! (By a nice coincidence, exactly 1/3 of these viewers are in Georgia...)