Matthieu Paley
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"1999" Pakistan, the first year

(38 images)
“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...
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“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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  • A sand dunes scenery close to Skardu, capital of Baltistan in Northern Pakistan, in the heart of the Karakoram mountains.
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  • Hasni, a poet, sings a song in his native Balti language, of Tibetan origins. Skardu, in Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
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  • A backpacker crossing a suspended bridge over the Hunza river in Gojal region, near Hunza, Northern Pakistan.
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  • 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).
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  • Young boy of Balti origin in the village of Kachura, in Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
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  • A young woman half way immersed in water at a lake near the Kachura village, in Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
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  • Foothills of the Pamir: the last sheep pen before the climb up into Afghanistan. Wolf and snow leopard predation is a big problem in the region.
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  • A sheep has been attacked by wolves overnight. Chapursan valley, Pakistan.
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  • 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).
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  • 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_0...jpg
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  • 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).
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  • In Deosai plateau, a park ranger shows us the way Himalayan Brown Bears sleep. Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
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  • A unnamed peak on the Afghan-Pakistan border - Afghanistan
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  • An old Wakhi woman after crossing a suspended bridge over the Hunza river in Gojal region, near Hunza, Northern Pakistan.
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  • 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).
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  • An exploratory trek in the Basho valley, Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains, Pakistan.
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  • The interior of Sarfraz Khan's house, a Wakhi trader in Pakistan that later became one of the main regional manager at the Central Asia Institute..Mud house in Zood khun village (3300m), at the end of Chapursan Valley, at the border with Afghanistan, in the Pamir Mountains. Wakhis are Ismaili muslim, an ethnic group followers of the Aga Khan. Ismailis are known for their tolerance and their Islam with no veils nor Mosque.
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  • Story teller. Gulmit village, Gojal region, Northern Pakistan.
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  • A wall full of Pakistan history, including many images of Benazir Bhutto. In Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
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  • Our first view of Pakistan! Going over the 4925m Irshad Uween pass, the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, in our last days trek....Adventure through the Afghan Pamir mountains, among the Afghan Kyrgyz and into Pakistan's Karakoram mountains.
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  • A young shepherd takes a break at his high altitude pasture. Trekking in Basho Valley..Karakoram mountain range, Baltistan, Pakistan.
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  • Mount Rakaposhi. People and places of the Hunza Valley, in the heart of the Karakoram mountain Range, North Pakistan.
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  • 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).
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  • 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).
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  • An old Burushaski woman..Hunza, Pakistan. Hunza people, Women and men
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  • 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).
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  • 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.
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  • A flock of geese migrating through the Karakoram, flying above 5000m...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).
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  • 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_4...jpg
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  • 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).
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  • Young polo players on the edge of Skardu town, in Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
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  • Walking on the sand dunes near Shigar town in Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
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  • Camping in the sand dunes near Shigar town in Baltistan province, Karakoram mountains. Pakistan.
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  • A glacier near the Afghan-Pakistan border - Pakistan
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  • A Wakhi man catches a yak in Chapursan valley, Pakistan
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  • In the valleys below the Pamir plateau inhabited by Afghan Kyrgyz live the Wakhis, an ethnic group of Tajik origins. In Pakistan, this is the last house inhabited by Wakhis before heading past the rainbow into Afghanistan and the Pamir mountain range.
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  • Mareile welcomed back at a village in Chapursan Valley, North Pakistan.
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