CHINGIZ
Photo project The Nargin is the island situated near Baku – the capital city of Azerbaijan. It is a small island, long and flat, and it is strategically situated close to Baku. As you get close to the Nargin peculiar feelings takes over you. From a historical point, this island is a strange, scary and an unpredictable place, and at the same time it looks like a paradise, simple and naïve. There are many stories about this island's past. Since the times of Russian Empire this island served as a home for the Baku Garrison. Mission of the garrison was to provide security for Baku or this island used as a dacha of a general. Some claim political prisoners were kept and executed here. Some believe at night ghosts of these dead prisoners and soldiers appear. There are many underground passages like a spider web. When you visit the Nargin, you will leave with the impression of a war zone: ruined barracks, damaged fences, leftover pieces from buildings and a huge graveyard for navy ships. One thing is for sure; the island definitely has a bad image. One must imagine how many people might have passed through this hell during the time of Stalin's repression. Here, on the island of Nargin, there is a lighthouse rising above the low hill from the ruins of our colonized past. Its light helps passing by ships to maneuver towards their destiny. One might also interpret its light as a scream from the heart of this dark times; trying to reminds us dangers of imperialism in our past and now.
Nargin. Island near Baku – the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan photography, 30x45 cm 2002