After first traveling to Kyrgyzstan in 2018, landscape photographer Albert Dros discovered himself enamored with the landlocked country in Central Asia. Its mountainous terrain presents never-ending dramatic landscapes and sufficient peaks and valleys to soften any photographer’s, coronary heart. Now on his 1/3 visit to the country, Dros took the opportunity to explore an area he’d formerly overlooked. During his explorations of
southern Kyrgyzstan, Dros now not handiest photographed the extraordinary landscapes; additionally, the humans he encountered, and the manner. As a result, his new paintings give an imaginative and prescient of his growing love affair with us of a. Largely untouched by tourism aid, Kyrgyzstan offers Dros a smooth slate from which to paintings. By entering this uncharted territory, he can discover his artistry without worrying about replicating what’s been executed before.
Thankfully, Dros is beneficiant in his choice to percentage the rich tradition of Kyrgyzstan with the world. From the excessive reaches of Lenin Peak to the deep valleys filled with yurts, the country’s natural beauty is not a mystery to the world at massive. By imparting this roadmap, the Dutch photographer hopes to inspire others to challenge new areas and explore what has but to be located.
We had the chance to talk with Dros approximately why Kyrgyzstan is so significant to him and what he found at some stage in his latest trip. Read on for My Modern Met’s one-of-a-kind interview.
I first visited Kyrgyzstan during my final year. My female friend is from Kyrgyzstan, so this becomes the main motive for my visit. Last year I saw her own family for the primary time, and because then, I had already seen the country in greater instances. But it’s manifestly now not handiest my lady friend’s roots and her circle of relatives that maintains me coming lower back. I love nature, and I love mountains. And that’s exactly what Kyrgyzstan has to provide.
The landscapes are truely untouched, and tourism is virtually upcoming right now, but still at a very early section. There are so many lovely landscapes there just waiting to be explored. And that is exactly why I keep returning—discovering new mountains, valleys, canyons, and everything.
Why did you decide to be aware of the South of Kyrgyzstan this time, and how long had you been there?
My last go to become my third visit in general. I had explored the east of America’s united states, particularly around Issyk Kul Lake and the Karakol location. But I didn’t visit the South. One of the high peaks, Lenin Peak, which measures over 7000 meters, may be determined in the South. I wanted to explore this location, and that is what I wanted to discover on this journey.
I decided to fly south to the second largest metropolis within the country (Osh) and then traveled to Lenin Peak. The South, with unique landscapes, maybe more scenic and specific than the rest of the united states. That’s why I decided to force returnereturnhkek by automobile and go to a few places while inside the area, residential go to Kyrgyzstan changed into approximately three weeks. Still, I also spent a lot of time with my girlfriend’s own family and buddies because her sister was getting married, and I was attending a marriage. An exceptional enjoyment!
Most sincerely. When I met my lady friend, I had never even heard of the usa Kyrgyzstan. I commenced to do research and observed a few photographs, but not ‘actual’ photos from professional photographers. But from the matters I located—particularly on Instagram—I noticed that this country had several capacities. My expectations had been met and significantly exceeded. I preserve coming back and am already planning a new ride.
Kyrgyzstan has a splendid form of landscapes. You can find 7,000-meter peaks here and mountains that remind me of regions in Europe. I also located Sary-Chelek, which has several veggies and even hills like in Tuscany. Then plenty of components of us can certainly be dry with canyons. I explored that region on my 2d visit to you. S . A. CNN did a few pieces and videos about this experience; they have been with me for a week with a video group.
On this visit, I explored a few unexplored canyon regions and did nighttime photography and drone images. This united states combines many landscapes from all over the globe in just a single United form of America, which is unique. My favorite regions are the regions around Karakol, where you can discover untouched valleys near China’s border. These regions have a special surrounding to them. I genuinely can’t describe it. You need to see and sense it for yourself. It’s just vacancy, rivers, and large mountains everywhere. You may also locate many wild eagles right here.
The difficult part is simply bringing the special surroundings over to my pics. It’s additionally not clean to imagine a country where almost nobody is going. Normally you may already test a few popular places on social media and get a feel for the form of snapshots you may get. In Kyrgyzstan, this has now become not the case.
I certainly experience that my contemporary pictures set a benchmark for other humans. It’s now less complicated for them as I already visited many places and published photos of them. But I had to explore the whole thing myself and discover the first-class locations to imagine. Kyrgyzstan has numerous beauty. However, it’s an undertaking to capture it.
