Hey there, Happy Sunday!

Mountains are everywhere—we hike, photograph, and admire their beauty from afar. But how often do we stop to think about what happens around them? What does life look like at their base, in their shadow, in the cold and the quiet?

This week, we bring you a piece that gets up close with that question. Photographer Hendry Tan takes us into the heart of Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains, where everyday life unfolds between harsh peaks and deep-rooted traditions.

These aren’t the stories that make headlines. But they’re real, and they speak volumes. Hendry’s lens captures people and places most of us will probably never see—families, routines, and rituals shaped by landscape and time.

Big thanks to Hendry for making this piece possible.

Hit the image below to dive into the full story.

Thanks for reading.

Life Inside Tajikistan’s Mountains