Moving with the Seasons: Portrait of a Mongolian Family

Environmental scientist and visual artist Carter presents the armchair traveler with an amazing photographic account of her four trips to Mongolia during a period of three years. The author%E2%80%99s aim here is to limn the people and landscape she encountered%E2%80%94and her photographs of the nomadic families (presented in a seasonal approach that reflects everyday life and close relationships to nature) are visually stunning. As a Westerner, Carter%E2%80%99s reactions to cultural differences may seem obtrusive or naive at times, but the visual delights she offers up reinforce the attractions of the Mongolian way of life%E2%80%94one that, she acknowledges, will likely change radically in the near future. Equally interesting is her claim that, under centuries of Chinese and, later, Soviet domination, Mongolians were kept ignorant of much of their own history, and that many have only recently learned about the most famous Mongolian in the West: Genghis Khan. Carter%E2%80%99s affection for the Mongolian people is evident in these vivid, affecting photos.