Xiang Fei: a femme de fatale who has become the genesis story of Xinjiang as a prefecture region of China. Portrait of Xiang Fei   Kashgar, China, a popular tourist attraction, is 香妃墓 Xiang Fei Mu- a mausoleum of the first Uyghur concubine to China. My Uyghur tour guide informed me in her perfectly punctuated Mandarin. That is based on a popular Chinese legend, a Muslim, Uyghur concubine named Ipharhan wooed the emperor 2,700 miles away in Beijing, with her sweet-smelling fra

Globally, pigeons, like politics can be derisive. Labelled as an urban pest or rats of the sky the poor fellas are usually given a bad rep. Or, at best, they are a traditional delicacy. Processing my dissent away from the Gen Z focus on short-term gratification; in pigeon I found not love in a hopeless place, as Rihanna says, but solace.   Uyghur men buying pigeons at a bazaar in Kashgar. Kashgar, China, is an ancient city embedded in the history of the Silk Road- pigeons are

Coron Islands- a sunny paradise with a World War 2 wreck, stunning limestone cliffs and fresh/ salt water lakes. Every year it attracts lovebirds, scuba divers, gappy's. Equipped with GoPros, diving equipment, and snorkels. Tourism is the main industry for the locals. The local economy relies on agriculture, fisheries, and the cash crops of rice, corn, and coconut. The Tagbanwa tribe, stand out.   Tagbanwa tribe member working at her convenience store. Research suggests that

In Xinjiang, where life is cheap but love is costly, queer Uyghurs navigate between tradition and expression, finding resilience in borrowed language and stolen moments of authenticity. Photograph of a cigarette statue on the way to Tianshan Mountains. Uyghur culture is traditional. Infused with Silk Road heritage, Islamic influences and arranged marriages, the culture is distinct. Social responsibility and kinship ties are important. Initially, my Uyghur friends agreed to ta

Kazakh UFC superstar Shavkat Rakhmonov advertises a stock trading platform draped upon an old Khruschyovka. Almaty, Kazakhstan, June 2025 In the early 1990s, as the Soviet Union collapsed, 2 million ethnic Russians left Kazakhstan for the newly formed Russian Federation. Yet three decades later, Russian influence remains deeply ingrained in the country’s language and institutions. Russian is still more widely spoken than Kazakh in urban centres, and Russian Orthodox churches

The top and bottom 1% in one scene. Skid Row, Los Angeles, October 2025

Half a million artifacts at the forefront of the UK's restitution debate. Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2023.

The early Berlin sunrise and post-rave feeling. Outside Club OST, Berlin, Germany, 21/02/2025

Posing with Taliban officers in front of the Afghan flag (they politely asked us for a photo). Near Qargah Reservoir, Kabul, Afghanistan 15/07/2025