A sky remembered
Before I knew what a galaxy was, I knew the stars.
As a child in Nukus, I often looked up at the night sky. Seeing so many stars is one of my clearest childhood memories.
Among the stars was a faint band of light. I would later learn that it was the Milky Way.
I did not know that I was looking into the galaxy that held our Sun, our Earth, and everything I had ever known.
I did not know that some of that light had travelled for thousands of years before reaching my eyes.
I only knew that it was beautiful.
The Light Between
Music: Above & Beyond — Sun In Your Eyes (Spencer Brown Remix)
Open video fileStill Looking Up
Years later, I began learning about stars and galaxies. Today, I explore that interest through a telescope and camera.
There is still so much I do not know.
Learning more has made the sky more interesting to me. But I still remember how it felt to look up as a child, without knowing the names of what I was seeing.
That childhood sky above Nukus is part of why I keep looking up—and why I want to photograph it.
I learned its name. I never forgot its beauty.
— I. Urazov