From the Shadows

Many cities have them – remnants of an old walled town harking back to its medieval past. But few are as enigmatic as Icheri Sheher in Baku. A Unesco heritage site, the Old Town dates back well beyond the 12th century, with its iconic, mysterious Maiden Tower and commanding Shirvanshah’s Palace. We asked the celebrated photographer DAVID EUSTACE to go and capture it, in words and images.

“There’s something about the way the light hits the Maiden Tower that makes it look as modern today as it did back in the 12th century. From certain angles, it could be a Frank Gehry creation. Good architecture never dates. My shot was to celebrate the graphics, the shapes, the architecture of this ancient structure and show it in a contemporary way – and to juxtapose it with the old photographs of the tower on the facing page.”

“This image inside the Shirvanshah’s Palace is actually one photograph, even though it can appear as two. I love the layers and different levels here, and how it leads on to somewhere else, through the doorways – there is an air of mystery, and the light is beautiful. We’re sharing a moment, a view, with the people who lived here in the 15th century.”

“This ceramicist, Mir Teymur, was all about passing on his wisdom and passion to the next generation. He had students in his studio, who referred to him as ‘the master’, and he really cared about teaching them his craft. I told him I liked that little ceramic head, and he immediately gifted it to me.”

“This wall is part of a university, shot from the street just outside the Old Town. Again, the graphic shapes have drawn me in, along with the visible layers that have been added over the centuries. As an artist, I look for details rather than an overall picture; there were many treasures and surprises that I discovered within the multilayered Old Town.”

“The Shirvanshah’s Palace, viewed from this angle, is yet another example. What struck me about visiting the Old Town over several days, was the way it changed so greatly depending on the time of day – the shadows created vastly different dimensions and shapes.”

“These vessels were set up like this in the ceramicist Mir Teymur’s studio. There was such an eclectic mix of items in there; and there was a quietness to the studio, an effortlessness and sense of place.”

“On the facing page is a close-up detail of a statue of Azerbaijani poet Aliagha Vahid, designed by Rahib Hasanov. The statue’s hair is made up of little figures (pictured). The obvious image would have been the statue as a whole, but I thought the detail was far more intriguing.”

“These domes, again, form part of the palace. We were granted special access to take this shot, so it’s an angle most visitors wouldn’t see. I was standing on a flat roof looking across the rooftops. What I loved was that balance between the old and the new. It’s very old, yet very modern.”

“The shot of the big wooden puppet was also taken from an unusual angle – I was lying flat on my back in the main entrance to the Puppet Theatre. It’s interesting and brilliant that someone would think of embedding a back-lit puppet in the ceiling. It’s worth looking up!”

“The next shot is just like walking back in time. It’s one of the many street corners that evoke such a strong sense of history and energy – especially at night. The ghostly figure represents all the people over the centuries who have walked here, too. I like visiting first thing in the morning and late evening, when it’s just you and the spirits of yesterday. That greatly appeals to me.”

“Stained glass in bright, bold colours is one of artist Ali Shamsi’s specialities, and I thought it looked interesting shot out of focus. Ali (above) is a real character, with a kind of old-world charm. He is sitting in a studio he’s developing in the roof of his house, upstairs from his current studio. I liked the rawness of the building site, with its graphic shapes, alongside the colourful glass on the facing page.”

“This image inside the palace is, again, all about the light and shadows – the shapes within the shapes. I love that you can compose something within a frame and give it a whole new depth when the light hits it in a particular way. The shadows are the same as they have been for centuries; there’s nothing else there that distracts from it.”

“This image inside the palace is, again, all about the light and shadows – the shapes within the shapes. I love that you can compose something within a frame and give it a whole new depth when the light hits it in a particular way. The shadows are the same as they have been for centuries; there’s nothing else there that distracts from it.”

“One of the Flame Towers, seen between the old domes of the palace; this rooftop view is the ultimate celebration of the past and the present. The buildings complement each other, while neither dominates. The Flame Towers are an incredible feat of engineering and skill, and the same goes for the ancient decorative doorway – but they’re centuries apart. Both are testament to craftsmen, artisans, visionaries.”

“When you walk into the Old Town you think, ‘Wow’. But then it’s the detail that’s really fascinating. I liked the graphic shadows on this cobbled road; and also the triangular shapes they cast on the wall. You can look at it as a wall, or, like me, you can delve a little deeper and look beyond. The greatest commodity of the Old Town is something you cannot buy, and that’s history.”

Creative director Kate Law

Producer Maria Webster

Photographer’s assistant Jim Yorkston

Special thanks to Behruz Huseynzade for access to his photographic archive