
FirstLook: Birthday Feast
- Photography
Photograph by Carolyn Drake
In the small town of Syrdaryo, about 80 kilometers outside of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, photojournalist Carolyn Drake visited the family of a local friend. The visit coincided with a birthday celebration. In the family’s main room near a window, a dasturxon (Uzbek for tablecloth used as a place setting, usually set on the floor) served as a focal point for sweets, appetizers and side dishes, surrounded by kurpachas, felt mats used for sitting or reclining.
Laid out across the center of the dasturxon are four bowls of chocolate and pastries. Plates of cheese and kolbasa (sausage), and seeds and raisins mirror them from both sides, while alternating plates of olivier (Russian potato salad), kraboviy salat (Russian crabstick salad) and a salad topped with pineapple border the edges.
You may also be interested in...
How to Discover Egypt From the Inside Out
Rather than just telling travelers where to go, the guidebook Egypt: Inside Out by Trevor Naylor offers an inside-out perspective that evokes the experience of being there, inviting readers to embrace an almost meditative travel discipline of slowing down to take in the details and complexities of Egypt, moment by moment.FirstLook: Ramadan Picnic
On a warm June evening, people gathered at a park in Bethesda, Maryland, for a community potluck dinner welcoming the start of Ramadan.First Look: The Color of Nubia in Aswan
As a Saudi photographer with a passion for cultural, human and heritage themes around the world, I strive to make my images windows to the past as well as reflections of the present. When I came across this guesthouse on a visit to Aswan, Egypt, I was taken back to 3000 BCE to ancient Nubia.