Mention honorable dans la catégorie « Photographie de Voyage »

I am currently living and working in Tajikistan and undertook a trip to the Pamir in 2023, the country's Eastern mountainous region. The Pamir range's highest peaks reach almost 7.500 m and the narrow and often adventurous unpaved mountain roads pass along wild mountain rivers, through tight gorges or open valleys and climb passes with amazing views at the top (photos 3, 4, 5 and 6). Its characteristic rugged terrain has isolated the region from the rest of the country and shaped a particular culture and resilient people, leading a simple life under often harsh climatic, economic and social conditions. I found the character of the landscape mirrored in the faces of many elder people (photo 2). Their occupations, such as repairing very old trucks from the Soviet era after every journey, were testimony to the challenges of common-day life (photo 8). One of the peculiarities are Zoroastrian religious worshipping places and practices (photo 2), which have survived in the region for thousands of years.