JP Coakley

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Overland

Mongolia to Gannan, overland, mostly on 35mm film, August to December 2006.

  1. Ulaanbaatar
  2. Khövsgöl
  3. Uvs
  4. Bayan-Ölgii
  5. Almaty
  6. Issyk-Kul
  7. Kashgar
  8. Sichuan
  9. Gannan

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

August

A young monk in red robes leans over a stadium railing to hand out slips of paper as many hands reach up toward him against a blue sky.

Khövsgöl, Mongolia

August and September

A weathered log cabin and rail fence sit beneath heavy storm clouds in a green valley while a figure in a red robe walks across the grass.
A herder in a brown robe, orange sash and wide-brimmed hat sits astride a white reindeer with huge antlers against a dark larch forest. An archer in a pale silk robe and felt hat draws a long traditional bow on a grassy lakeshore, with old vans and hills behind him. An elderly woman in a red robe smiles in profile inside a dim cabin while children stand in the bright doorway behind her.
A shaggy white and black yak lies on the grass beside a wooden cart under a stormy sky, with horses and a rider near the lake behind. A figure in an ornate embroidered robe and hat stands at the end of a rough log jetty looking out over a wide lake, in sepia tones. Towering clouds and a line of snowy peaks reflect in a still pool on a gravel riverbed edged with autumn shrubs.
A young woman in a knit hat with wildflowers tucked into it sits on a pebble lakeshore under a cloudy sky, looking off to one side. A tiny fuel station with a single pump, a tank and a red price sign stands alone on the golden steppe below low dunes and hills. A rider leads a caravan of heavily loaded camels and a dog across the flat golden steppe below bare mountains.

Uvs, Mongolia

September

Low sun lights golden tundra in front of a glacier-fed valley between dark mountains under a heavy gray sky.
A tight crowd of long-horned brown goats faces the camera as a child stands behind them on the stony steppe in low evening sun.

Bayan-Ölgii, Mongolia

September

A traveler with a red backpack walks down a dusty road holding up a pair of juggling sticks beside three local boys, toward a row of golden trees below a rocky hillside.
A man in a skullcap stretches across a pool table with one leg kicked out while another man laughs, inside a stone corral with a wide valley beyond. A golden eagle faces the camera with its feathers ruffled, perched in front of a weathered wooden fence.
A trekker carrying a large pack walks through a boulder-strewn valley below snowcapped peaks under a deep blue sky. Two hikers stand beside a stone cairn on golden grass in front of a dark lake and a looming gray mountain under stormy clouds.

Almaty, Kazakhstan

October

A young vendor in an apron stands behind a huge display of dried apricots, raisins, nuts and prunes piled in neat colored mounds at an indoor market.
An elderly woman in a turquoise headscarf and lilac knit vest sells balloons and toys on a busy sidewalk, looking straight into the lens. Four street sweepers in bright orange vests walk toward the camera carrying long straw brooms down a tree-lined pedestrian street.
A young woman in a fur-trimmed jacket sits on a park bench with her hand at her chin, looking back at the camera, a sunlit fountain spraying behind her. Two yellow tents sit half buried in fresh snow beside a blue ski lift wheel, with sun flaring over jagged snowy peaks. A cable car pylon and its cables are silhouetted at night above a vast spread of glowing city lights far below the mountains.

Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan

October

Beyond autumn poplars and village rooftops, a wide blue lake stretches to a wall of snowy mountains as birds fly overhead.
A traveler in a dark jacket and cap crouches on a rock in deep fresh snow as the mountain ridge above fades into a snowstorm. Old Soviet sedans in blue, red and green crowd a market lot in low evening light while men look them over. An older man in a yellow cap and red vest glances at the camera beside a dusty beige sedan at a crowded car market with snowy peaks behind.
Boys play football on a dry field, framed by a goal made of rough wooden poles under a blue sky. An old man in a long olive coat and felt hat walks away down a dirt track toward village houses, hands clasped behind his back. A young soldier in a fur hat and camouflage jacket stands by a striped barrier with snowy mountains behind him.

Kashgar, Xinjiang, China

November

A crowded market street with a man pushing a bicycle and a donkey cart in the foreground under a hazy sky.
An elderly man in a skullcap walks through a street market carrying two tall stacks of round flatbread. A man seen from behind stands in the middle of a large ring of schoolchildren in red scarves on a city sidewalk.
Two blacksmiths work at a forge, one holding metal on the anvil while the other swings a sledgehammer beside the fire. An old man with a long white beard and a fur hat walks past other men in dark jackets and caps at a market. A man in an embroidered cap stands in a hat shop before a wall hung with rows of dark felt hats.

Sichuan, China

November

A still turquoise lake with sunken logs mirrors snow-dusted forested mountains.
A hand-painted sign reading Best Cold Beer in Town leans against a tree beside an old pool table in a snowy mountain village.

Gannan, Gansu, China

December

A long covered corridor of painted red and gold prayer wheels recedes into the distance while a few pilgrims walk along it.
In black and white, two robed pilgrims walk bent together past a vast whitewashed monastery wall. A monk in a maroon robe sits on a golden temple roof beside a large gilded finial and a dharma wheel, with a brown hillside behind.
Ornate red and gold monastery doors hung with white scarves stand within a painted entrance framed by red pillars and white walls. Two monks in red robes walk away down a gray road carrying a metal barrel between them, the red of their robes bright against the muted street.