Bodomzor metro station Tashkent, tulip lamp posts and geometric ceiling Uzbekistan photography

Metro Stations of Tashkent, Uzbekistan | New Tashkent

with One Comment Street PhotographyStreet PhotographyTravelUzbekistan

Part two of my photo series featuring the Tashkent, Uzbekistan metro system – Catch up with Part One Here.

If the Soviet stations felt like stepping into a museum, the newer stations felt like stepping into the future. Where the older platforms leaned on ornate tilework and cultural history, these were all about geometry, clean angles, and bold shapes. A few of them felt almost architectural in a sci-fi or futuristic way, like someone imagined what a metro station might look like in 50 years.

It was also over 100 degrees above ground most days, which made the underground stations a comfortable place to slow down, poke around, and take photos. There were moments in between trains when the stations cleared out of people (aside from the ever present guards) and the underground spaces became downright peaceful.

The contrast between old and new on this system is genuinely striking. Same city, same trains, completely different worlds and art/architecture styles depending on which stop you get off at.

At the very end of the Green Line I found myself at the Turkiston Station and realized I was only a 30 minute drive from the Kazakhstan border – fun to be so close to another country and tempting to grab a taxi to the border, but I’ll save a visit for my next trip.

[click to enlarge photos]

Beruniy

Oybek

Dostlik

Bodomzor

Mashinasozlar

Yunusobod

Chorsu

Shahriston

Turkiston

Check out Part 3, featuring my favorite station on the entire system.

Visit-Cuba-Tips-Havana

Cuba Street Photography | A Glimpse Of Life In Havana

with 7 Comments Street PhotographyTravel

Last month I had the pleasure of joining three other incredible photographers on a whirlwind street-photography trip to Havana, Cuba.

My personal goals for the trip were to give myself a creative boost, improve my composition skills and learn to see things differently. In other words: I’m learning how valuable and important it is for me to have personal photography projects that have nothing to do with client work. Projects like this trip are both educational and a great creative ‘re-charge’ both personally and professionally.
In an effort to spark creativity and force myself to compose differently, I decided to limit my gear to one camera and one lens – A decision that I worried over, but ended up being really happy with. Eliminating options and choice when it came to my equipment forced me to work the scene differently than I normally may have and literally made me see things through a different perspective.

I can absolutely tell you that we utilized every waking moment of this trip. Alarm clocks would go off at the crack of dawn and we’d head out at sunrise and fill the entire day with photography adventures. At night we’d reconvene over dinner (and Mojitos. obviously.) and critique and give feedback on each other’s work – an exercise that proved to be incredibly beneficial to me.
I’m so very thankful to Jide, Nicole and Matt not only for inviting me on this trip, but also for being so willing to share their time and creative process with me (and each other)!

If you’ve ever considered going to Cuba please go! I’m already planning a return trip. I learned a lot about Cuba and met so many kind and incredible people that were willing to pull up a chair and swap life stories with me. Plus, there’s rum and cigars.
Here’s a look at some of my favorite moments from the trip.

If you have questions or thoughts about Cuba (or anything!)
I’d love to hear them in the comments below.