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"1999" Pakistan, the first year

38 images Created 11 Dec 2012

“1999” Pakistan, the first year.

In July 1999, at the impressionable age of 25, my girlfriend and I left New York with a one-way ticket to Pakistan. We headed for the mountains. They were gigantic and treacherous; the people living amongst them were warm and touching. Soon we were addicted. We opened up new passes, learned the language, went into the wild. Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Pamir, year after year, we must have trekked over 3000 Kilometers.

I was near K2 on 9/11. Soon I was asked to go and photograph demonstrations in the streets of Islamabad. I tried, but it didn’t feel right – this was not the Pakistan I wanted to portray. In October 2001 we had to leave, obeying our embassy’s advice: the airport might get bombed. We flew to Bangkok, leaving most of our stuff, our friends, our life behind.

I didn’t take many pictures during that first year in Pakistan – film was expensive and a round trip to the nearest photo store was a 35 hours bus journey through the Karakoram. I had a Nikon F100 and a Horizon, a cheap Russian panoramic camera. I was walking the hills, experimenting, learning.
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  • Pakistan_1999.jpg
  • A sand dunes scenery close to Skardu, capital of Baltistan in Northern Pakistan, in the heart of the Karakoram mountains.
    Pak_Baltistan_079.jpg
  • Hasni, a poet, sings a song in his native Balti language, of Tibetan origins. Skardu, in Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
    N_Pak_Baltistan_35.jpg
  • A backpacker crossing a suspended bridge over the Hunza river in Gojal region, near Hunza, Northern Pakistan.
    Pak_Hunza_093.jpg
  • The way to China...Trekking through remote Karakoram, in the Shimshal, Braldu and Shaksgam valley, finding human remains in unexplored caves hinting to the existence of an ancient trading route between Baltistan and China. Summiting unclimbed 6000m peak. Northen Pakistan, on the border with China (Xinjiang).
    Pak_Braldu_906_21.jpg
  • Trekking through remote Karakoram, in the Shimshal, Braldu and Shaksgam valley, finding human remains in unexplored caves hinting to the existence of an ancient trading route between Baltistan and China. Summiting unclimbed 6000m peak. Northen Pakistan, on the border with China (Xinjiang).
    Pak_Braldu_906_08.jpg
  • Young boy of Balti origin in the village of Kachura, in Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
    N_Pak_Baltistan_22.jpg
  • A young woman half way immersed in water at a lake near the Kachura village, in Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
    N_Pak_Baltistan_29.jpg
  • An old Wakhi woman after crossing a suspended bridge over the Hunza river in Gojal region, near Hunza, Northern Pakistan.
    Pak_Hunza_090.jpg
  • A marker on the trail, in Pakistan, near the border with China...Trekking through remote Karakoram, in the Shimshal, Braldu and Shaksgam valley, finding human remains in unexplored caves hinting to the existence of an ancient trading route between Baltistan and China. Summiting unclimbed 6000m peak. Northen Pakistan, on the border with China (Xinjiang).
    Pak_Braldu_906_07.jpg
  • Near Shimshal village...Trekking through remote Karakoram, in the Shimshal, Braldu and Shaksgam valley, finding human remains in unexplored caves hinting to the existence of an ancient trading route between Baltistan and China. Summiting unclimbed 6000m peak. Northen Pakistan, on the border with China (Xinjiang).
    Pak_Braldu_906_046.jpg
  • An old Burushaski woman..Hunza, Pakistan. Hunza people, Women and men
    Pak_Hunza_025.jpg
  • On the Baltoro glacier, the trek leading to K2 basecamp, the world's second highest mountain, a trekker stop below a huge ice block. Karakoram mountain range, Baltistan, Pakistan.
    N_Pak_Baltistan_Bernd_022.jpg
  • Walking on the sand dunes near Shigar town in Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
    N_Pak_Baltistan_19.jpg
  • A woman walks on the sand dunes near Shigar town in Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
    N_Pak_Baltistan_060.jpg
  • Snow leopard pug marks...Trekking through remote Karakoram, in the Shimshal, Braldu and Shaksgam valley, finding human remains in unexplored caves hinting to the existence of an ancient trading route between Baltistan and China. Summiting unclimbed 6000m peak. Northen Pakistan, on the border with China (Xinjiang).
    Pak_Braldu_906_19.jpg
  • In Deosai plateau, a park ranger shows us the way Himalayan Brown Bears sleep. Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
    Pak_Baltistan_028.jpg
  • Sleeping out under the star, at the border between China and Pakistan. Pakistan..Trekking through remote Karakoram, in the Shimshal, Braldu and Shaksgam valley, finding human remains in unexplored caves hinting to the existence of an ancient trading route between Baltistan and China. Summiting unclimbed 6000m peak. Northen Pakistan, on the border with China (Xinjiang).
    Pak_Braldu_906_04.jpg
  • An old Wakhi woman crosses a suspended bridge over the Hunza river in Gojal region, near Hunza, Northern Pakistan.
    Pak_GulGulkHus_0803_010_Low.jpg
  • Trekking through remote Karakoram, in the Shimshal, Braldu and Shaksgam valley, finding human remains in unexplored caves hinting to the existence of an ancient trading route between Baltistan and China. Summiting unclimbed 6000m peak. Northen Pakistan, on the border with China (Xinjiang).
    Pak_Braldu_906_10.jpg
  • A young shepherd...Trekking through remote Karakoram, in the Shimshal, Braldu and Shaksgam valley, finding human remains in unexplored caves hinting to the existence of an ancient trading route between Baltistan and China. Summiting unclimbed 6000m peak. Northen Pakistan, on the border with China (Xinjiang). September 2006.
    Pak_Braldu_906_12.jpg
  • In Chilma Rabbot, below the Boroghil pass entering Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor, whinowing wheat. Matthieu and Mareile Paley trekking with a donkey named Clementine over 5 high passes across the Hindukush, between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
    N_Pak_Baltistan_Donkey_0904_010.jpg
  • Near Shimshal pass...Trekking through remote Karakoram, in the Shimshal, Braldu and Shaksgam valley, finding human remains in unexplored caves hinting to the existence of an ancient trading route between Baltistan and China. Summiting unclimbed 6000m peak. Northen Pakistan, on the border with China (Xinjiang).
    Pak_Braldu_906_41.jpg
  • The way to China...Trekking through remote Karakoram, in the Shimshal, Braldu and Shaksgam valley, finding human remains in unexplored caves hinting to the existence of an ancient trading route between Baltistan and China. Summiting unclimbed 6000m peak. Northen Pakistan, on the border with China (Xinjiang).
    Pak_Braldu_906_16.jpg
  • A shrine...Trekking through remote Karakoram, in the Shimshal, Braldu and Shaksgam valley, finding human remains in unexplored caves hinting to the existence of an ancient trading route between Baltistan and China. Summiting unclimbed 6000m peak. Northen Pakistan, on the border with China (Xinjiang).
    Pak_Braldu_906_14.jpg
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