Of course, Tashkent and an Uzbek kishlak in winter in these two photographs by Max Zakharovich Penson are not contemporary; the famous photographer died in Tashkent in the middle of the last century. But if you try, even today you can find similar corners in the Uzbek provinces and even in the capital.
In the first photograph, once titled “First Snow,” there is an aryq in the old part of winter Tashkent. Steep slopes, cold water running along the aryq, bare tree trunks and branches, a thin layer of snow, one-story houses, a flag on a pole, and groups of people in chapans and coats in the background — this is exactly how I remember the city of my childhood in winter, although I was born three years after the photographer’s death (Max Penson died in 1959 at the age of sixty-six).
The second photograph, “Chigir,” takes us beyond the big city. Boys in chapans tied with a scarf and wearing fur hats stand with their backs to us on a hillside (the hats differ — some wear traditional ones, some wear Russian ushankas, and one boy is simply in a tubeteika). Below lies a kishlak covered with snow, and on the right is a water-lifting wheel, or chigir.
On the Yep.uz website you can also find many other old photos of winter Tashkent.
And how do you remember Tashkent and Uzbekistan in winter from your childhood (if you lived here or visited as a child)? Just like in Max Penson’s photographs?