Center

For the past ten years I have commuted between two and five hundred miles a week to my job in Alfred, NY. So ironically, it has been a relief to find myself in Mongolia with less than a ten minute walk to work—close enough to go home for lunch or even just between classes. Most days I make the trip at least twice, and over the past couple of weeks I have made it a habit to stop at the base of a statue at the west end of the Center to take the same view of Khovd's large public square. (At first I thought my students were forgetting something when they wrote that they lived near the Center... “Of what?” I wondered.)

The view I settled on includes the Red Theater, another statue in the Center, and part of the Polytechnic college. It also includes Goat Red, the mountain in the background, which acts as gauge for the thickness and condition of the air, as well as a test swatch for the color and quality of the light.

Eventually I plan to turn these images into a time-lapse video. But for now, here is a sample of what I have found so far. The same view never looked so different as it does under the varying conditions of light, weather, atmosphere and the constant foot traffic that passes through in every direction.