Carolyn Drake (USA)

The acclaimed American photographer presents Paradise Rivers, which follows the Amu and Syr Darya rivers of Central Asia from their source in the valleys of the Pamir and Tien Shan mountains, downstream across Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan to their dwindling ends, crossing into the lives of people and layers of history that they intersect along the way. Called the ‘Rivers of Paradise’ in early Islamic writings, the rivers have sustained life for forty thousand years. When Moscow’s rule ended in 1991, five new Central Asian nations appeared, burdened with plunging economies, artificial borders, and a growing ecological crisis. In association with Panos.

Carolyn Drake is a documentary photographer based in Istanbul. Her photo career began at the age of 30 when she decided to leave her multimedia job in New York to learn about the world through personal experience. Since 2007, she has explored the politics, cultures, environment and ideas of progress in Central Asia; a vast territory nestled between Russia, China, Afghanistan, and Iran. Drake is the recipient of a Fulbright fellowship to Ukraine, the Lange Taylor Documentary prize, and a Guggenheim fellowship. Her work is regularly published in international magazines such as National Geographic and New York Times.

carolyndrake.com