entral Asia: Daily Life in Mythic Territory

Today, post-Soviet central Asia is still mythic territory - perhaps most notably as the oil-rich backdrop to the recent war in Afghanistan. However, these pictures, taken in Uzbekistan during the final months of 2001, aim to demonstrate that the region is not only one of legend, past and present, but also one of the everyday - a place where people bake bread, fix shoes, or enjoy the simple thrill of jumping on a trampoline on a warm afternoon.

They were taken by Raffi Khatchadourian, a freelance print journalist who recently traveled through Uzbekistan covering war-related subjects.