Photographs

Xinjiang, 2016

/ William A. Julian / Leave a comment
Balgen, 4 years old
Balgen, 4 years old
Surging across the Buzkashi plain
Surging across the Buzkashi plain
Steeple Chase
Steeple Chase
Shenanigans
Shenanigans
Chilluns
Chilluns
Skewering meat for tourists
Skewering meat for tourists
They've still got it
They’ve still got it
Festival attire
Festival attire
Mare's milk; traditional hand-carved wooden ladel
Mare’s milk; traditional hand-carved wooden ladel
Sayram Lake
Sayram Lake
Murat cooks for tourists
Murat cooks for tourists
There are no words
There are no words
A man and his yurt
A man and his yurt
Magician
Magician
Narat Grassland
Narat Grassland
Narat Grassland
Narat Grassland
Three generations, one mobile phone
Three generations, one mobile phone
I lost
I lost

Beijing and Xinjiang, 2014

/ William A. Julian

Yurtside Magic

Men who spend their day alongside a roadstop hawking posed photographs to tourists, for a fee.
Men who spend their day alongside a roadstop hawking posed photographs to tourists, for a fee.
A watermelon merchant on a bustling Urumqi backstreet.
A watermelon merchant on a bustling Urumqi backstreet.
A wizened Kazakh woman rolls a cigarette in newspaper.
A wizened Kazakh woman rolls a cigarette in newspaper.
Balgen, two years old.
Balgen, two years old.
Stand of yurts located near Sayram Lake, near the Chinese border with Kazakhstan.
Stand of yurts located near Sayram Lake, near the Chinese border with Kazakhstan.
A Uyghur dance show popular among wealthy Han Chinese tourists.
A Uyghur dance show popular among wealthy Han Chinese tourists.
Uyghur men play chess on a stale hot afternoon.
Uyghur men play chess on a stale hot afternoon.
The Urumqi Grand Bazaar.
The Urumqi Grand Bazaar.
Foothills of the Tian Shan
Foothills of the Tian Shan
An eastern Chinese rail station.
An eastern Chinese rail station.
Two migrant workers struggle to understand the inner workings of Beijing's ultra-modern subway system.
Two migrant workers struggle to understand the inner workings of Beijing’s ultra-modern subway system.
A moment of repose in Beijing's urban sprawl.
A moment of repose in Beijing’s urban sprawl.
Workers toil away, faceless and unknown by those who traipse along the busy shopping thoroughfares of Beijing's trendy hutongs.
Workers toil away, faceless and unknown by those who traipse along the busy shopping thoroughfares of Beijing’s trendy hutongs.
A gentrified Beijing hutong at night.
A gentrified Beijing hutong at night.
A tourist and the Tian Shan.
A tourist and the Tian Shan.
These will soon be roasted and served.
These will soon be roasted and served.
Beijing Hutong rickshaw traffic jam.
Beijing Hutong rickshaw traffic jam.
Youth pulled into technology, an octogenarian skates by.
Youth pulled into technology, an octogenarian skates by.
Dance for Beijing.
Dance for Beijing.
A morning meat market in Ili, near China's border with Kazakhstan.
A morning meat market in Ili, near China’s border with Kazakhstan.
Machismo.
Machismo.
A Kazakh festival with requisite wrestling competition.
A Kazakh festival with requisite wrestling competition.
Don't mess with Tokhan.
Don’t mess with Tokhan.
A Confucian smoke break.
A Confucian smoke break.
A swelling Buzkashi scrum.
A swelling Buzkashi scrum.
Every afternoon into the evening, these men play Go on the same streetcorner.
Every afternoon into the evening, these men play Go on the same streetcorner.
Horsemen give chase, attempting to wrestle an inflated goat carcass from the hands of the leader.
Horsemen give chase, attempting to wrestle an inflated goat carcass from the hands of the leader.
The magnificent river that snakes along a vast grassland.
The magnificent river that snakes along a vast grassland.
Hu Ping spends his summers in this lush valley hunting mushrooms for sale. He spends the rest of the year in the decadent forests of southern China doing the same.
Hu Ping spends his summers in this lush valley hunting mushrooms for sale. He spends the rest of the year in the decadent forests of southern China doing the same.
Sunset in the central Tianshan
Sunset in the central Tianshan
A group of Kazakh elders socialize and drink in the early evening.
A group of Kazakh elders socialize and drink in the early evening.
Father and daughter.
Father and daughter.
The Tian Shan.
The Tian Shan.