Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia

Local guys and a moonshine still

Goats closeup, towers background

Tower in sunlight

Upper village and Mt Shkhara at sunset

Georgia: People & Places

FINALLY finished scanning all 20 rolls of film from my last winter in Ushguli, Svaneti. I could have shot much more than this in the 5 months that I was there, but simply getting film from way up there was the problem, actually. Some November-December 2007 previews, including, from the top:

1st - Lamaria Church with Mt Shkhara backdrop, always spectacular

2nd - reflections in a large moonshine bottle
3rd - view through a ruined house's window

4th - one of my favourite views, from up high near the Tamar's tower overlooking the bottom of the village

5th - the top of the village by moonlight, tripod-mounted shot

Moonshine distillery, Etseri, December 2000

This photograph dates from before my "hate affair" with araqi, the favoured drink of Svaneti. At the time I despised only its taste (though I've never been drunk). Later I realised how many lives - including those of people I knew - have been cut short through this poison.