Sunlight strikes the medieval towers of Ushguli, Georgia, in the mountainous region known as Svanetia, where a people live that were known as the Children of the Sun for worshiping the Sun God, Lile’.
This small community of 200 is the highest continuously inhabited village in Europe, where ancient traditions continues to flourish. Ushguli is one of those places that is straight out of a storybook – it seems to be paused in time.
I first stumbled into Ushguli in 1997 when there were no guidebooks for the Georgian Republic, no paved roads in the mountains, and no hotels or restaurants in region. It was a place where pagan traditions mixed with Christian Orthodox ways in 14th century frescoed churches and elaborate rituals with fire and wine went late into the night.
It is rare to find places untrammeled by tourists and the global economy, but I found it here in the Caucasus Mountains and have returned again and again over the years since that first visit.
Location: Ushguli, Georgia
Photograph Date: 2012
Medium: Chromogenic Print
Edition: 200
Available Sizes: 28″ x 28″, 38″ x 38″ & 48″ x 48″
