Photo series in Kazakhstan

From 10 to 28 August 2026, two friends and I crossed Kazakhstan from west to east, from the Caspian Sea to Almaty and its mountains, by plane, by bus and, where the roads ended, in an off-road 4x4.

In the west, Mangystau's nature is raw: a bare plateau, a dead sea that is really a sea of salt, mountains standing in the desert with dunes at their feet. In Aktau, people were curious, almost shocked, to see foreign tourists, and very friendly with the little English they had. In the east, Almaty sits under mountains so high and so white, and still so far away. Everything is big there, the buildings too: Soviet-era blocks stand next to modern and traditional ones everywhere. Around the city come the lakes, the canyons and the heavy rivers.

These series follow that trip. Brutalism in Almaty is the Soviet modernism and brutalism of the city, shot in black and white to look like infrared, with the sky turned almost black. Living KZ market is the Green Bazaar at golden hour, the sun falling through the skylights onto dried fruit, spices and meat.

Everything was shot on an X-T5 with two primes, a 25mm f/1.7 and a 56mm f/1.8.

The full story is in the journal: Kazakhstan, from the Caspian to the mountains.

Album · 12 photosBrutalism in Almaty→ Album · 5 photosLiving KZ market→