Sunset over a Tajik village overlooking Lake Alaudin. Nestled in the heart of the Fann Mountains in southwestern Tajikistan, this lake is a popular hiking destination.

Photo: Etienne de Vaumas (France)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Dusk appeared first on Novastan English.

Rarely has Turkmenistan better deserved its reputation as an inaccessible and strange country than in this photograph of a refreshment bar on the edge of the ‘Gate of Hell’ ( Darvaza gas crater).

Photo credits : Anton Pfaller (Germany, @apr_jnr)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Lunar drinks stand appeared first on Novastan English.

In Kyrgyzstan, the lush green valleys of Lake Song-Kul form the perfect setting for peaceful grazing.

Photo credits : Ilima Termirgalieva (Kyrgyzstan)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Song-kul appeared first on Novastan English.

This workshop, located at the Yangiabad flea market in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is brimming with locks and keys. The Yangiabad bazaar, teeming with all manner of goods, is known for its attractive prices and its traditional atmosphere, which remains largely untouched by tourists.

Credit: Madina A’zam (Uzbekistan @madinaazam_photography)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post A conscientious job appeared first on Novastan English.

Nature demonstrates its full resilience by allowing life to flourish even in its most hostile corners. This plant, whose vibrant colour is a testament to its vitality, symbolises the triumph of life in an environment as arid as Fairy Tales Canyon. The Skazka Canyon, on the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan.

Credits: Tolgahan Biskin (France, @tolgahan.iso)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Resilience appeared first on Novastan English.

Close-up on the finely detailed features of the Burana Tower, an ancient minaret in Kyrgyzstan. It is one of the last remnants of Balasagun, an ancient city that was notably one of the political and economic centers of the medieval Qarakhanid dynasty (840–1212). In 1041, this dynasty split into two kingdoms, ruled by two khans: one in the east, one in the west. Bukhara was the capital of the western kingdom, while Balasagun was the residence of the eastern king. The city of Balasagun established itself as one of the centers of Turkic-Muslim culture within the dynasty, contributing to the integration of the Turkic language into the Muslim world. This status was notably reflected through works of courtly poetry (or mirrors for princes) such as The Wisdom of Royal Glory (Kutadgu Bilig), written by Yusuf Balasaghuni in the 11th century.

Photo credit: Tolgahan Biskin (France)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post The Burana Tower appeared first on Novastan English.

Morning mist – but not just that – hangs over Almaty. In barely a quarter of a century, urban sprawl, coupled with the loss of the city’s green spaces, has created the conditions for trapping the pollution generated not only by heavy road traffic but also by coal-fired power stations.

Credits : Simone Bergonzi (Italy, @simobergz)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Morning mists appeared first on Novastan English.

In the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz special forces (spetsnaz) soldiers march in rows equipped with Russian AK-74 assault rifles.

Credits : Pierre-Armand Dussex (Suisse)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post In formation appeared first on Novastan English.

Kok-boru carries on an ancient equestrian tradition dating back to the time of Zoroastrianism. The principle of this game, which is very popular in Central Asia and similar to the Afghan game of buzkashi, is as follows: the riders compete for the decapitated carcass of a goat, which they must wrest from their opponents before carrying it to the kazan, the opposing team’s goal.

Photograph taken in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Credits : Salomé Aldeguer-Roure (France)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Equestrian sport appeared first on Novastan English.

The Kutlug Timur minaret, named after a khan of the Golden Horde, towers over the site of Konye-Urgench at a height of 60 metres. 

Konye-Urgench, or Urganj, is a major historical site, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the far north of Turkmenistan. 

The city reached its peak between the 10th and 14th centuries as the capital of Khwarezm. Although ravaged in 1221 by Genghis Khan during the Mongol invasion of Central Asia, it was rebuilt and quickly regained its status. However, in 1373, Tamerlane conquered Khwarezm. In 1388, he razed the city to the ground, massacred its population and destroyed the irrigation system. This event, combined with a change in the course of the Amu Darya, marked the beginning of Konye-Urgench’s decline. In the 16th century, the city was replaced by Khiva as the regional capital, and was subsequently gradually abandoned.

Photo credits : Anton Pfaller (Germany, @apr_jnr)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Kutlug Timur Minaret appeared first on Novastan English.

High in the mountains of Tajikistan, two young girls lead their small herd of cows to pasture.

Photo credit: Cyril Caldero (France)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Shepherdesses appeared first on Novastan English.

In Tashkent, Uzbekistan, temperatures usually exceed thirty degrees in summer. A refreshing break is particularly welcome. The summery colours of the young girl’s outfit in the photograph complement the façades of the houses perfectly.

Credits :  Daria Novikova (Uzbekistan, @dasha.novasha)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Uzbek summer appeared first on Novastan English.

In Khiva, one of Uzbekistan’s most popular tourist destinations, visitors flock to enjoy a panoramic view of the entire city.

Photo credits : Salomé Aldeguer-Roure (France)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post View from the tower appeared first on Novastan English.

In Almaty, Kazakhstan, stands this monument dedicated to two heroines of the Soviet Union, Aliya Moldagulova and Manchouk Mametova. These two female fighters distinguished themselves through their courage and marksmanship during the Second World War. Manchouk Mametova was killed by German forces on 15 October 1943 at the Battle of Nevel. Aliya Moldagulova, for her part, was killed in January 1944 whilst her brigade was attempting to ambush German troops. This memorial was unveiled on 25 October 1997. Depicted in military uniform by the team of sculptors, the two heroines are marching in step.

Credits : Ana Muñoz

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Heroines of the Second World War appeared first on Novastan English.

Just like their human owners, domestic cats have their own distinctive characteristics in every region of the world. Genetic analyses have revealed that the domesticated species (Felis catus) most likely spread from the Near East to Asia through trade along the Silk Roads. It did not finally reach China until around the 8th century AD. Khiva, Uzbekistan.

Credit : Margaret Bullich (Germany)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Khiva cat appeared first on Novastan English.

Four immaculate pickup trucks race at full speed toward the Derweze crater. Known as the “Door to Hell,” this site in Turkmenistan draws the handful of foreign tourists who manage to obtain a visa each year. Seventy meters across, the Derweze crater has been burning continuously since 1971, when Soviet geologists discovered the site and began setting up drilling infrastructure. The ground beneath a platform gave way, opening up the wide Derweze crater. Once it had collapsed, the pit was set alight to burn off the gas, rendered unusable, and limit the consequences of the vast quantities of methane suddenly venting into the atmosphere. At the time, combustion was not expected to last more than two weeks. The “Door to Hell” has now been an open-air inferno for 50 years: the stuff of photogenic landscapes, and a symbol of ecological disaster. Located in the Karakum Desert, a territory roughly the size of Germany, natural gas reserves are trapped between countless sedimentary layers, ensuring a slow but unrelenting burn.

Photo credits : Anton Pfaller (Germany, @apr_jnr)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Western Turkmen appeared first on Novastan English.

The Bibi-Khanym Mosque in the city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan is one of the largest mosques in Central Asia. It is named after one of the wives of the Turkic-Mongol conqueror Tamerlane. Construction of this important building began in 1399 and was completed five years later, in 1404. The haste with which Tamerlane himself, upon his return from a victorious expedition to northern India, insisted on the work being carried out meant that a solid structure could not be built. Indeed, the mosque began to deteriorate very early on and was permanently damaged by the 1897 earthquake. Today, the restoration and preservation of the mosque are the subject of controversy. In 2024, however, Qatar committed to supporting the restoration of the iconic mosque.

Credits : Tristan Bjalon (France, @tristanbja)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Bibi-Khanym Mosque appeared first on Novastan English.

Wherever you are, when a herd is on the road, cars have to wait. Gharm, Tajikistan. 

Credits: Etienne de Vaumas (France)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Traffic on the road to Gharm appeared first on Novastan English.

Turkmenistan stands as the most extreme case of authoritarianism in Central Asia. From 1991 to 2006, the Saparmyrat Niyyazov state established a near-total grip on all public and private life, shutting down every library and hospital outside the capital on the grounds that the country had no need of them. By the same logic, Covid-19 never, according to regime sources, reached Turkmenistan. Internet access is severely restricted, cinema and opera are banned, and the bulk of university and religious education was reduced to drilling the precepts of the Ruhnama : a text attributed to Niyyazov blending Quranic doctrine, moral instruction, historical revisionism, and elements of Turkmen folk culture. Niyyazov’s towering legacy was somewhat cut down to size by his successor Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who cracked the country open to foreign investment and marginally widened internet access, though under tight surveillance. He carried on the tradition of having golden statues of himself erected in the capital’s centre, while quietly shipping his predecessor Niyyazov’s to the outskirts. Autocrats are rarely generous with the limelight.

Photo credits : Anton Pfaller (Germany, @apr_jnr)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post Pillars of salt appeared first on Novastan English.

Danil Usmanov will present a photographic reportage at the L’Aléatoire gallery (Paris), taken in the Batken region of southern Kyrgyzstan, exploring the theme of migration. 

Danil Usmanov, a Kyrgyz photojournalist, currently works with major media outlets (Le Monde, The Guardian, Eurasianet, etc.), but here at Novastan we are proud to have featured his debut work back in 2014. The photograph shown on this page is from a report produced south of Lake Issyk-Kul in 2014. In 2020, we featured his work as part of our series “Central Asia through the lens of …”.

Danil Usmanov’s exhibition “The Valley of the Winds” at the L’Aléatoire gallery, from Saturday 6 June 2026 until Saturday 13 June 2026.

Credits : Danil Usmanov (Kyrgyzstan, http://danilusmanov.com/)

Find all of our photos of the day. You can buy some of these and receive them at home: here is the list! If you can't find your picture in the list, mail us to photo@novastan.org.

The post The Valley of Winds appeared first on Novastan English.