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ÜRÜMQI

portraits of Xinjiang

By Lowell Robinson

November 10^th, 2014

Before the Summer of 2008 I had no idea where Ürümqi was. As a teen I had peered into western China from Northern India, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I got to go to one of the most interesting cities in the world. Xinjiang , un-dramatically known as the Uyghur Autonomous Region, borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Tibet. It’s mixture of cultures not easily defined and definitely not easily controlled.

Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang, holds the record for the most remote major city in the world (1,400 mi from the nearest sea). As part of the less traveled Northern Silk Road, the Ürümqi Corridor is better described as a cul-de-sac, sandwiched between the Taklamakan Desert and the Tian Shan Mountains.

I found Ürümqi one of the friendliest big cities I’ve ever visited. I discovered many years ago that taking portraits with permission was an amazing way to discover a place. I noticed when I would shoot candids that I would remain outside the vibrancy of a city, a passive watcher. Asking someone to take their portrait is an instant relationship (good or bad) it’s impossible to not see yourself as a participant. Getting a haircut is also a good way to discover a city, or you can photograph a barbershop and get a shave.

Portraits of strangers creates multiple stories for me the moment I click the shutter. The conflict is often the struggle between an interesting capture and an authentic moment. With candid street shots, I create the narrative, but with portraits by permission there is often an agreement of how the moment is represented by both of us.

I bough a leather cowboy hat at the Grand Bazaar, and like all the other tourists I decided to have my picture taken in front of this bronze camel (it was free, unlike the stuffed reindeer). I had no idea why the first man approached me. There were no western tourists in Ürümqi, so my first thought was my celebrity differentness. Turned out he just wanted to try out my hat. I took his picture and before you know it, another guy asked me to wear the hat! You know where this going right? If only I had more time that night.

Ürümqi was a city that opened itself up to me in a way very few places have ever done. Its vibrancy, its warmth, the city smiles just by being. Luckily I was there for a short while to take a few pictures.

Footnotes

All photos were taken in 2008, while on a eclipse expedition for the Exploratorium. Read about that here http://apps.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/community/

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FootNotes

All photos were taken in 2008, while on a eclipse expedition for the Exploratorium. Read about that here http://apps.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/community/