Women of Wardi, a photo from Badakhshan, East

Photographer's Note

In terms of quality, this is not the best of my travel photos. It was getting dark and the shot was taken from a moving vehicle on a bumpy road. I知 amazed you can see anything at all!

These women stepped out of their house probably because they had heard the sound of an approaching motor vehicle. There is no traffic to speak of in those roads so I assume every car must be an event worth checking out. This is the village of Wardi. More a hamlet than a village but it proudly features on the small map of Wakhan my guide and I shared during the trip.

Note the hats the two elderly ladies on the right are wearing. We are in the Ismaili territory. Ismailism is a branch of Shia Islam, more liberal than the all-embracing stereotype of the Muslim religion people have in the West. The biggest difference, from my personal point of view, is that women are not required to wear headscarves. They do in villages though, which, in Afghan Wakhan, means practically everywhere. However, even in Afghanistan, you will not see an Ismaili woman wear a burka. Ismaili people don稚 pray in mosques, they make offerings (such as colourful pieces of cloth) at small shrines scattered along the road. I値l post photos of two of those in WS. I致e also heard rumours (denied point-blank by the imams) that Ismaili people produce and drink alcohol. I致e never been in a position to confirm that though.

It was not my first encounter with the Ismaili culture. Three years earlier I met and stayed with Ismaili people in northern Pakistan while travelling along the Karakoram Highway.

Now� A couple of weeks ago I uploaded another photo from the road and included a link to a youtube video. A few of my TE friends complained it was only 18 seconds long (I had expected that even that would be too long and you would be terribly bored but I was obviously wrong). So, by popular demand� here is another, much longer one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_H1t_F7K_0&feature=youtu.be

For explanation what is going on in this little movie, please see the note to this image:

https://www.trekearth.com/workshops/1585481/photo222070.htm

PiotrF, COSTANTINO, papagolf21, pajaran, jemaflor, macjake, holmertz, Royaldevon, jhm, Fis2, GyurMaster, PaulVDV, CLODO, tyro, lucasgalodoido, alvaraalto, adramad, worldcitizen has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

PiotrF (54602) 2020-07-12 15:53

Czesc Kasiu
Ciekawa scenka z tego miejsca. Dzieki za wyjasnienie zawilosci kulturowych i obyczajowych.
Samochod z filmiku nie mial prawa odpalic - paliwo z piaskiem jest zla mieszanka dla silnika - nawat jesli to toyota ;)
Ciekawa prezentacja
pozdrawiam
Piotr

ifege (48019) 2020-07-12 19:31

Hi Kasia
Another superb photo from Afghanistan. A great touch of daily life there. Excellent text. Please keep more coming.
I do have a suggestion. You should upload large files instead of the old basic TE size. Ones in the range of 2000 to 3000 would make you display here even better when viewed large.
cheers
Ian

COSTANTINO (116421) 2020-07-12 22:22

Hello dear friend and have a nice day
and a happy new week
a superb photo from afghanistan
with great originality
an atmopshere different from the
usuals
regards
Costantino

Silvio1953 (221525) 2020-07-12 22:31

Ciao Kasia, nice scene with lovely women, wonderful natural colors, splendid light, excellent clarity and fine details, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

abmdsudi (95869) 2020-07-12 22:41

Hi Kasia
Yet another interesting story! An appealing rural image and colourful portraying humble but rather curious women folk all looking into your direction. Beautiful, graceful and elegant composition all work together so well. I particularly like the touch of autumnal colour but the main thing for me is that this gives a very intimate glimpse of a way of life without in any way intruding. Excellent shot
Best regards

papagolf21 (152607) 2020-07-12 22:51

Bonjour, Kasia,
Tr鑚 bonne note accompagnant cette composition.
La mise en image est excellente.
Tr鑚 bonne journ馥.
Amiti駸.
Philippe

jemaflor (147076) 2020-07-12 23:06

Hi Kasia,
Interesting photo with these people, Nice with all these colors, traditional clothes and leaves, good rendering, interesting note, tfs.

macjake (98438) 2020-07-12 23:59

Hi Kasia
this is why i love TE, so many different travel stories that are shared. and of course I learn so much as well. Just look at this home, i'd give almost any amount of money to see its interior and to spend time with the family. I wonder how I'd be recieved. this is a great shot from the car, wonderful moment captured, its fun examining the clothing. cheers
Craig

SteveH (8220) 2020-07-13 1:41

Hi Kasia, very nice travel shot - wouldnt have guessed it was shot from a vehicle - and an interesting note to go with it. I didn't know about these people. cheers, steve

holmertz (102650) 2020-07-13 2:56

Hello Kasia,
It doesn't have the same marvellous sharpness as most of your photos, but being taken from a moving car on a bumpy Afghan road it's fantastic. What a fascinating view it offers: of the women, the children, the houses, the autumn coloured trees and the rough environment. For all this it has to go to my favs, once again. Added to this the odd but interesting features in the WS. Reading about these people being Ismaili, there should be every reason in the world to keep the Taliban away, or they would be slaughtered.
I also note that you could have a future as a director of art-house movies. Nothing happening for a long time but interesting sounds in the background. ;-)
Sorry to hear the election results, but I wish you a nice week anyway.
Gert

Royaldevon (85896) 2020-07-13 5:48

Hello Kasia,

An unexpected photograph for you but one which worked very well. Despite being in a moving car, your photograph is both sharp and well composed.
Though the land is stony and arid, the trees and the ladies provide a surprising amount of colour.

The contrasts between these people and their way of life, and our way of life, is so very different. There will be no popping down to the local shop or supermarket for some freshly prepared meat, or a bottle of milk! Life will be so much harder for them.
A car passing their house being an incident worth watching, whilst we would love cars to stop passing our house!!
If the reality is what we saw in the video, not that many cars will survive the journey!!!

I enjoy reading your notes and perusing your photographs; it's a whole new learning experience!

I suspect the drinking of alcohol is true.
We visited a small fishing village in Pakistan and the village elder gratefully received a bottle of whisky from our guide.

Have a good day,
Bev :-)

jhm (211736) 2020-07-13 9:55

Hello Kasia,

This is very sadly when we see this women and children
A wonderful panorama area with colourfull trees in background.
Nice composition and good presentation.
Very well done, TFS

Best regards,
John.

Fis2 (170693) 2020-07-13 13:25

Czesc Kasia!
Ciekawe miejsce, fajna scena z dnia codziennego.
Stroje kobiet robia wrazenie.
Dobry kadr i kolorki.
Pozdrawiam.
Krzysztof

GyurMaster (24818) 2020-07-13 15:00

Hello Kasia,

It is simply stunning how the colours of the women's clothes resemble the colours of the vegetation in the bg. Nicely spotted as always!

Best Wishes,
Gy.

lousat (139220) 2020-07-13 23:24

Hi Kasia,beautiful post from this remote village where this ismail people lives. Surely not easy to take a pic of local women,they are very diffident and curious as i can see. And interesting too are the 2 pics in the WS,very curious the horns! Thanks a lot for your precious info with the video too and have a nice day,Luciano

rychem (72187) 2020-07-17 1:01

Sadze, ze na polskiej wsi tez ludzie wyszliby, zeby zobaczyc, co sie dzieje :)
Fajnie pokazana wioska
pozdrawiam Ryszard

mkamionka (74351) 2020-07-18 3:29

Czesc Kasiu,
Urocza scenka rzeczywiscie. Te panie wpatrzone w ciebie ustawily sie interesujaco w kadrze. Rowniez tlo calkiem ciekawe. W szczegolnosci jesienne kolory drzew w oddali.
Jak rozni jestesmy: ja jakos nie jestem fanem fotografowania ludzi. Raczej ciekawia mnie krajobrazy badz architektura.
Swietna jakosc-mnie nigdy nie udalo sie zrobic zdjecia z samochodu czy samolotu.
Pozdrawiam serdecznie,
M

PaulVDV (62880) 2020-07-18 13:57

Hello Kasia,
When I travelled in North Yemen in 1988 I also met Ismaili people but I've never seen there such piles of Ibex horns and sculls at a shrine.
Didn't the Ismaili women suffer much from the Taliban when they once controlled almost all of Afghanistan? That must have been terrible.
The pieces of fabric in vivid colours tied to the trees at another shrine and the colourful clothes of these ladies are in sharp contrast to the rough rock and stone environment in which these people live.
Also the autumn leaves look like an explosion of colour in the grey environment.
We note on your main picture that the houses have very small windows. Hopefully, the inhabitants can keep out the cold in the winter and the heat in the summer.
The video with the problem of the driver running out of fuel reminds me an event that happened to me in Iran in 1996.
A long-distance bus wanted to refuel immediately after departure before leaving the city. But there was a long line of people waiting to fill up. The driver seemed rushed and didn't wait. An hour later somewhere along the way in the desert, the bus had to stop because there was no fuel. All passengers thought this was very stupid. The driver got out waving an empty jerry can to passing buses. Finally one stopped to fill the jerry can. That in a country with a lot of oil :)
Best regards, Paul

ChrisJ (171822) 2020-07-18 14:20

Czesc Kasiu

A nice capture of bothe the warm Autumn colours of the trees and the women and children in traditional costumes observing you. Good sharpness and saturation. Tfs!

Miguel82 (47110) 2020-07-19 2:07

Kasia, the population rarely sees foreigners in that remoted area. They gather outside of their house to observe the photographer. I like their colorful clothes and the building style. The autumn colors are splendid in the bg. Good sharpness, regards.

CLODO (45116) 2020-07-24 23:43

Hi Kasia

Sharpness is not the principal think we look at, the scene is more important. You note reminds me my grand mother going out of her house when a car was passing by . I like the colored cloth, the gesture of the women, the autumn foliage. A good souvenir of your journey.
Cheers
CLODO

tyro (30513) 2020-07-25 5:17

Hello Kasia,

Firstly, you should make no apology for the quality of your photographs - in my opinion they are always excellent images of good quality and, more importantly, of very considerable interest.

I appreciate that you couldn't have got closer (because you were stuck in a moving vehicle) but this is an excellent scene capturing these women and children outside their home. Your note gives us a fine simple explanation of some of the ways of the Ismaili people and is also well complemented by your two workshop shots of little wayside shrines.

Thank you too for your longer video clip - we don't see much of the surrounding area but we do see these guys' futile attempts to get their Land Cruiser going - as someone who has always had a love affair with motor vehicles, I suspect that the problem was a partially blocked fuel filter - that would explain why the engine "fired up" satisfactorily, only to die a few seconds later. Pouring more (probably dirty) fuel into the vehicle was probably not the answer!

Excellent!

Kind Regards,

John.

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2020-07-31 8:09

Ol� Kasia,
bonito retrato dessas mulheres aqui, e gostei bastante na cena das cores das roupas e da vegeta鈬o ao fundo tamb駑. Boas imagens complementares. Belo trabalho.
Parab駭s e Abra輟,
Lucas

jmdias (115100) 2020-08-16 9:03

kassia

despite the troubles this image is amazing and I liked a lot the other two too. I know about the many people inside this country, but not particularly this one. clothes and colorful trees and people and house.. everything is interesting to see. I am surprised you wanted to visit this country, for a man I presume it is a big risk, for a woman could be even be more dangerous.I guess malgo was courageous visiting iran and saudi arabia but I guess you are much more. Brave Polish girls !!

take care

jorge

alvaraalto (42804) 2020-08-18 7:37

Hello Kasia,
A beautiful colourful photo of these women.
Fortunately, modern digital cameras are capable of producing good results even in difficult lighting conditions.
It is beautiful to see the contrast between the dark colours of clothing and the warm autumn colours of nature.
Also my thanks for the excellent information that gives us more insight into the diversity of the Islamic world.
Excellent work
Have a nice day, groet Rob

adramad (72970) 2020-08-25 4:30

Hi Kasia.
My congratulations, for the sensational portraits in your gallery, I love them.
However, I choose this to comment to you, because I like the disposition of this family looking at you carefully with their traditional dresses, I like the simple house as a background, as well as that wonderful range of colors of the trees in the patio.
A nice color that enhances the image.
Well seen and done. I like it.
Have a great day. All the best.
Very best regards.
Luis.

worldcitizen (16048) 2020-08-31 16:43

Hello Kasia,
What a fascinating and rare view. The land looks so harsh and unforgiving, but then there are bursts of color, both from the trees and the clothes of the women and children. Your series from Afghanistan has been really interesting and informative. I admire your adventurous spirit and have been enjoying your photos. Take care!