Promising Waters

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Publisher's presentation:

"For over four years, photographer Mila Teshaieva has documented the transformation of the three former Soviet republics on the shores of the Caspian Sea: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The battle for control of the region's vast oil and gas reserves and the search for a national identity have led to far-reaching changes for the population, the environment and general social values.

Teshaieva's images reveal an atmosphere of insecurity, where people pin their hopes and expectations on a transformation whose direction remains uncertain. The photos leave the viewer with unanswered questions as to the relationship between the state and private identity, the ties between past, present and future, and how to pinpoint the boundary between a region's rise or fall."

This series takes us in a territory that is difficult to grasp and define. Mila Teshaieva's images are simple and beautiful, a gaze that is not taking position, yet they are striking and puzzling as they reveal the contrast between the grandiose and the derelict in a fluid sequence.

What probably strikes the most is the people's eyes in the images, and how they avoid the camera. Some turn their back, other wear shades or a scarf on their eyes, but most of them look down, as if sad or shameful. Could this be a metaphor of the condition of this region that doesn't know where it is going and cannot face the road ahead?

With texts in English by Christoph Moeskes, Maya Iskenderova and Mila Teshaieva.
This project won the  "Photolucida Critical Mass Book Award 2012" which made the publication of this book possible.

Please note that we are also offering the Limited Edition of this book (see "Suggestions" tab) with 2 signed 21x30 cm prints in a clamshell box.

120 pages - Hardcover no DJ

Kehrer, 2013

Format : 24.5 x 22.5 cm

New - Mint condition