Қ А З А Қ С Т А Н

The Living Land

Six landscapes that refuse to hold still.
Clouds drift, water breathes, stars flicker — portraits in the old magical style.

Every frame below is a single photograph, animated live in your browser. Nothing is video. Scroll slowly.

Red sandstone towers of Charyn Canyon with a lone road winding through the Valley of Castles
No. I

Charyn Canyon

Шарын шатқалы · Almaty Region

Twelve million years of wind and water carved the Valley of Castles. A lone road threads the red towers down toward the river.

Sunken spruce trunks of Lake Kaindy standing in turquoise water with mirror reflections
No. II

Lake Kaindy

Қайыңды көлі · Kungei Alatau

A spruce forest drowned by the earthquake of 1911. The trunks still stand — masts of a sunken fleet in turquoise glass.

Golden chalk tower of Bozzhyra under a dappled cloud deck at low sun
No. III

Bozzhyra

Бозжыра · Mangystau

The floor of a vanished ocean. Chalk fangs of the Ustyurt catch the low sun beneath a travelling sky.

Storm light over the first Kolsai lake between spruce-covered mountain slopes
No. IV

Kolsai Lakes

Көлсай көлдері · Tien Shan

The pearls of the northern Tien Shan — alpine lakes strung along a spruce-dark gorge, the weather always on the move.

White chalk arch of Tuzbair glowing gold above the salt flat
No. V

Tuzbair

Тұзбайыр · Mangystau

Where the Ustyurt plateau breaks off into the salt pan. After rain the sor turns to mirror; in dry wind, a white desert of light.

The Milky Way over the snow-capped peak above Big Almaty Lake at night
No. VI

Big Almaty Lake

Үлкен Алматы көлі · Trans-Ili Alatau

2,511 metres above the city's noise, the lake sleeps under the galactic core. Wait for a falling star.