Armenia will wait. I do have more to write about visiting Sevan, Dilijan, Vanadzor and more. But first, a more Georgian interlude…
Ever since a December 31 rockfall, house-sized, closed the road from Jvari up into Upper Svaneti, scuppering my January 1 travel plans, I have been itching to get back into proper winter. They cleared the road in a couple of days, but other set plans delayed me. Finally, in February, several things colluded to call me back up.
One was a young man’s funeral, about which I can say little except that it prompted the largest outpouring of grief I have yet seen from the many, many funerals it has been my sorrow to attend.
The day after that was our village’s Lamproba, the joyful traditional late winter Svan religious holiday. Up until this time I had been calling it the Festival of Torches, because burning brands feature in it. But a couple of English-speaking Svans asked me to change this terminology, so I have done so. A kind neighbor had a spare birch log with one end split for me, as all households have for every male family member, present or absent. I filmed the whole thing (vertically) on my iPhone, in segments which when strung together totaled 18 minutes, and you can find it here.
This trip actually marks a turn in my creative output. In addition to digital photography, I find myself filming all manner of moving subjects, making a start as an amateur videographer. The first inspiration this time came when I was on the Tbilisi to Zugdidi day train. Filming scenery from a wagon window, I noticed a very strange thing. The regularly spaced neighboring railroad ties, our speed and my camera’s video frame-rate were interacting. The result is a 9-minute shot in which the ties appear to be moving at exactly our speed, occasionally even going slightly faster than our train. Fascinating optical illusion: you can see it on the above link.
Finally, despite the ethnographic wonders of Lamproba, I have been discovering and photographing all manner of new shapes and beings in ice. I have to set out at no later than about 9:30am or the daily miracles will have melted in the cloudless sunshine which has been our only weather since I arrived 6 days ago. Our reported once-in-a generation snowfalls have largely melted, and the landscape now looks more like March than February. But the ice still comes back every night, to dazzle. Ever see a lion made of ice, no larger than your hand? Most of the other shots are abstract, but this one I’ll add to my Svan fairy tale bestiary with pleasure.
Much of what I have been shooting involves a macro lens, and ice much less than a millimeter thick, which makes an eggshell seem mighty in comparison. A breath would obliterate it. But careful quick shooting immortalizes it before it can melt. Minutes later, it might be gone.
I am grateful for the time, and the vision, to seek, observe, discover and record new sights in my beloved Svaneti. Each season here is magnificent. But not everyone will crouch down on hands and knees to notice and see the tiny, temporary miracles which silently surround us. It’s a privilege.
Blog by Tony Hanmer
Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer and photographer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with over 2000 members, at www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/
He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti
