Making Photos of Cultural Heritage. Sergey Shchekotov-Alexandrov

trade outside their family. That is why the secret of making non-fading colors has remained a secret. Apparently, a dynasty of a craftsman was stopped.

      The cave complexes of Ajanta have a long history.

      It is known that these temples were abandoned for a long time. Only in 1819, they were accidentally discovered by British soldiers that hunted tigers in this area. India was a colony of England at that time. Therefore, information about the “cultural wonder” very soon became known in London and then spread all over

Europe.

      Interestingly, the researchers of the Ajanta rock paintings concluded that they showed the history of Indian civilization. It is known that the age of Indian civilization is 5 thousand years. So, the paintings reflected a life of three millennia. In addition, various religious Buddhist subjects were depicted on the frescoes.

      I noticed that a lot of tourists from different countries come to the Ajanta.

      site. ELLORA CAVE COMPLEX

      I spend a little bit more time in the Ellora cave complex.

      I spent the night in the hotel of the settlement, which is located next to the

      The Ellora rock complex dates back to the 6th century. It includes 34 caves.

      We drove about 200 kilometers by car from the Ajanta to the Ellora.

      The cave temples of Ajanta were made by hollowing out “rooms” (caves), and the temples of Ellora were mainly carved out using the “top-down” method. In addition, certain sculptural compositions were made along with the construction.

      For example, the figure of a huge elephant was made simultaneously with the construction of the cave itself.

      I have not been to Buddhist caves, but I have been to several Hindu and Jain caves. There are a lot of sculptural compositions in Hindu temples. These temples look very ornate. Jain caves, on the contrary, are very modest. It was explained to us, the tourists, that the richer people had richer temples.

      It is interesting that the temples of Ellora are, in fact, a united cave complex. And priests of three different religions lived together there for a long time. This is a manifestation of a tolerant attitude in India.

      There is such a story associated with the most remarkable of the temples, the Kailasa temple, a magnificent, perfectly preserved example of Dravidian architecture. According to the legend, the temple was erected by the raj of Ellichpur Edu in gratitude for the healing with water from a nearby spring. The temple is located in the back of a yard side carved out solid rock. There are colossal statues of Shiva, Vishnu, and others made of stone in the granite canopy above the entrance. Behind the canopy, there is a large statue of the goddess Lakshmi, resting on lotus flowers and surrounded by elephants.

      An interesting service is provided here for tourists: small vans (some kind of museum taxi) transport tourists from one part of the cave complex to another.

      HOW WAS IT

      The library staff, where my event took place, did a great organizational job. There were about 30 members of the audience. The event visited local television journalists.

      Before presenting my photo and video works, a local resident, a famous dancer of Indian dances, held a mini-concert. Then the representatives of the Russian-Indian Friendship Society, invited by me, spoke and said many good words about the friendship between India and Russia.

      There was a teapoy with oriental sweets and Indian tea.

      Also, I and the library staff prepared small exhibitions of Indian books.

      My speech was received with great applause. In a word, it turned out to be a wonderful evening of documentary photography!

      Chapter two FORTS. FORTIFICATIONS

      ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF THE EVENT

      The idea of the event was to collect images of forts and fortifications from my archive, make some additional photos on the subject, and then create and conduct a two-hour public multimedia program for the 6th St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum.

      I knew that there were countless fortifications in the world. Almost always people in different parts of the world live in a state of war.

      Fortifications are also great sites for documentary photography. This is exactly what I wanted to say at my event.

      A program was created using photos, videos and infographics from five collections: two of them contain photos from foreign countries (Turkey, India) and the other three include photos from Russia (St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod region).

      I will tell you about the photos of each of these collections later.

      SELJUK FORTIFICATION IN TURKEY

      Alanya Fortification is a medieval fortification in the city of Alanya in southern Turkey. Most of it was built in the 13th century. The fortification is located on a rocky peninsula 250 meters high near the Mediterranean Sea.

      I was in Alanya in November 2014. It was a tourist trip with my wife, Raisa, we stayed in Turkey for 11 days.

      Alanya is an ancient city, it starts its history from the II century BC. Today it is a major tourist city, hosting tourists mainly from Europe, especially from the Scandinavian countries. Of course, tourists from Russia also spend their vacations here.

      In the 13th century, the Seljuks conquered Kalonoros (that was the name of the peninsula near which the city is located) and renamed the city to Alaye in honor of the Seljuk sultan Ala ad-Din Kay-Kubad. During the reign of Kay-Kubad, the city reached full flowering. At that time, a significant part of the new fortification (which has survived to this day), a shipyard and several mosques were built. Alaye became a major commercial and military port.

      In my photos, you can see some parts of the fortification, the residence of the Seljuk Sultan.

      The fortification is quite well preserved, and today it is a museum that is visited by many tourists every day.

      What impressed me?

      Firstly, you can admire the views of the enchanting Mediterranean Sea from the high walls of the fortification. You can imagine people living here and soldiers being on guard, admiring the local beauties.

      Secondly, the fortification museum is “intertwined” with countless private houses and cottages. And when you drive along the road, you do not understand, if you are in a private residential area or the territory of a museum. It is great!

      Sultan Ala ad-Din Kay-Kubad, during the construction of his Muslim fortification, left a small Orthodox chapel, which was built during the period when the city was under the rule of the Byzantine Empire. This chapel today requires restoration.

      THE PRATAPGAD FORT IN INDIA

      The Pratapgad Fort is located in the mountainous settlement of Mahabaleshwar (Maharashtra) in India.

      I visited this place in November 2015.

      India has a rich military history and is a home to over 100 forts and fortifications.

      The mountain settlement of Mahabaleshwar is located 250 km southeast of Mumbai and is the most visited mountain resort of Maharashtra. The resort is a large plateau with an area of about 150 sq.km. It is located at an altitude of about 1,500 meters above sea level. The population is about 18 thousand people. There are many long beautiful roads on the plateau, where you can walk or ride a horse. Mahabaleshwar is famous for its honey, strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, beans, lettuce, and carrots.