Woody Packard

Words + Pictures

Center, First Draft


Here's a first look at the activity in Khovd's Square as it unfolds in one month of time lapse photography. I have mixed it with sound that is captured from different places within the frame that you see here, though I have also included the sound of a throat singer from video I captured at another celebration. There is a long bleak winter ahead, but my goal is to keep this up until the leaves turn green.

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Center

Time lapse video of the square I have traveled by foot for the past six weeks on the way to work. Many days I make the trip several times, so that there are several opportunities each day to photograph. Since I plan to be here for the next eight months, this is just a work-in-progress sample to see how it is looking so far.

When I stop I don't ordinarily stay long, but sometimes something is happening that gives me a chance to look at some aspect of the day's view that is interesting on a shorter scale. I have photographed military exercises and speeches, crowds and total emptiness. At the Red Theatre on the far right of the frame I have shot video of cows listening to opera music. But mostly it is the movement of people across the square, the movement of clouds across the sky, and the movement of shadows across the mountain to the east. Most of the audio was recorded in the square or at the Red Theatre except for the throat singer who sang at a graduation party.

Shooting continues daily. This time of year much of it is in the dark, or nearly so. I have not yet seen green leaves in Mongolia, but hope to in several months. Read the story…