KYRGYZSTAN - SUMMER 2026

the nomad country

The road ends and the country does not.

THE BOOK

Photographs and words by James Issam Mengad

This story was made in the summer of 2026, when the herding families of the Tian Shan were still on the high pasture and the World Nomad Games had brought the horse cultures of half a continent to one lake shore.

The first thing you learn in Kyrgyzstan is that the road ends and the country does not. Six hours south of the capital the tarmac gives out, the van drops into second gear, and for the rest of the day the only traffic is sheep.

We went for the World Nomad Games and stayed for the ordinary days on either side of them.

Keep the one where nothing is happening.

THE BOOK

Magazine and hardcover

88

240 × 300 mm

150 gsm

Sixty-five, and the cover

Softcover or hardcover

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SPECIAL EDITION

Large format

480 × 300 mm

250 gsm

Softcover or hardcover

Printed in short runs

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PRINTS

Every photograph, on the wall

Every photograph in the book is available as an archival pigment print in an edition of eight, signed and numbered, with a certificate of authenticity.

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