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I haven't found out who the photographer was.
Kazakhstan is famous for its apples ("Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, and formerly its capital, derives its name from the Kazakh word alma 'apple', and it is often explained as meaning 'full of apples' (the region surrounding Almaty is home to forests of Malus sieversii", which is "a wild apple. According to DNA analysis conducted in 2010, it is the primary ancestor of the domesticated apple, M. domestica.")
I've had this saved on my phone for around 7 years now? I've always loved it. I think it's how easy it is to imagine being there. Holding apples with her, the warmth of the sun. We've all had at least one moment just like this ourselves.
I like her downward smile too! It's like she's saying something, it feels a bit more casual than a lot of postcard imagery, which is largely reductive and rooted in stereotypes. Perhaps this image is like that as well and I'm just not familiar enough with Kazakh history and culture. But regardless, it prompts me to ask these questions! It has made me curious and introspective.
You can also read this in contrast to Christian imagery of Eve. Here the bounty of an orchard is celebrated. Knowledge is good. Harvest is a warm memory.
Mar 27, 2025
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i spent 2 months in Istanbul, Turkey at the end of 2020. Since covid was still about I spent the 2 months just wandering the old and new cities with a camera in hand. I took this one at a time when I was greatly obsessed with Jeff Walls’ photo “The Destroyed Room” and how I would love to recreate something of that sort. One night I was on Istiklal (one of the busiest promenades in the city with shops and restaurants and a trolley that rolled thru the middle of it) and it was time to pray the evening prayer, yet I was too far from a mosque (surprisingly) that I needed to pray out in the street. My cousin and I put our jackets down in preparation of making our prayer, when right as we were about to start, two men outside of their restaurant told us there was no need and invited us inside their establishment to pray in there. They led us down to their basement, which funny enough, was slightly flooded, and the spot in which they set for us to pray, was an old wooden table top floating above the leaking water. Looking around the basement, at the far wall, were these stacked chairs, tables, and junk, possibly leftovers from a recent renovation. And there was this obscure painting sitting perfectly in the middle of it all. Two Arabic letters painted on the canvas which I‘d noticed in many other places in Istanbul, yet never really understood the meaning behind. And as my cousin went to pray first, on the floating piece of wood, I couldn’t help but think of Jeff Walls‘ photo and how reminiscent the composition, colors, and overall optics were to this junk in the basement. I took one single photo and was happy with it. And as much as I love the work itself, the story behind it is my favorite. It’s always the first that comes to mind when someone asks what my favorite photo I took is.
Thanks for this ask! Always love sharing this. 😁
Jan 6, 2025
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some random babushka, captured by russian photographer Alexander Anufriev for his work Russia Close-Up
Feb 5, 2025
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Lately I've been spending too much time scouring every corner of eBay I can for the cheapest and most delightful soviet era porcelain figurines available
I didn't even realize it until diving head first into this rabbit hole, but I have had soviet era porcelain figurines my whole life (a bunny and a bull for those curious), so I guess I was always destined to develop a fondness for the form, and eventually dig a little deeper into it.
There is something so incredibly charming and also incredibly interesting about these porcelain pieces! These little guys!
There's a lot of history to dig into that I've barely scratched the surface of AT ALL, but I'm fascinated by how porcelain reflected the common sentiments* of the times, the economic conditions, the artistic movements and ideas of the day, and also the ability (or lack thereof) of people to stay in one place and hold onto something so "useless" and easily broken.
I have very, very few things from any of my ancestors. Figurines like these make me think about the way history and art are passed down to us, forgotten, broken, left behind, sold in thrift stores and online, if they survive at all.
Figurine collections are kind of a barometer of safety and stability, or at least how dedicated to the illusion of it you might be.
They also make me think about how useful "useless" things can be. How even art that is purely decorative can be thought-provoking (by for example valorizing "folks"), or just make you happy (via being very cute! Or expert use of color and form!).
Grannies collect this shit for many good reasons and I'm starting to catch on.
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* Notably the $$$ collectors type ones are the ethnographic figurines, something I NEED to read an academic paper about.
Especially, because Ive noticed some of these figurines depicting "ethnic types" are inaccurate copies of earlier prints, which themselves should be placed under immense scrutiny! This is all extra interesting in the context of the porcelain industry transitioning from imperial rule to the soviet era. The ways of talking about ethnicity changed, (in addition obviously to y'know, everything!) but the products produced largely remained the same. Lots to think about!!!
Jan 31, 2025