Tbilisi: Details & Textures
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Tbilisi: Details & Textures

A city read at close range

Eighty-six images of surface, material, and the weight of accumulated time. The peeling paint, the carved balcony rail, the worn doorstep. Tbilisi is a city that has been rebuilt, destroyed, and rebuilt again, and every version left something behind.

85 images
Tbilisi, Georgia
Peeling paint on a Tbilisi door revealing three previous colours beneath 1 / 85
Carved wooden balcony rail, the pattern worn smooth on the handrail section 2 / 85
Iron hinges on an old city gate, rust spreading from each bolt hole 3 / 85
Ornate window frame on a crumbling façade, the detail intact above the decay 4 / 85
Mosaic tile steps in Abanotubani, each tile a slightly different blue 5 / 85
Stone wall with visible mortar repairs spanning several centuries of patching 6 / 85
A cracked plaster wall with the lath showing through in one corner 7 / 85
Glass of Georgian amber wine on a wooden table, the light through the glass 8 / 85
Traditional Georgian nabeuri pottery, the surface hand-thrown and uneven 9 / 85
Iron street number plate on a brick wall, the numbering system no longer legible 10 / 85
Tbilisi balcony ironwork at dusk, the city blurred below it 11 / 85
A wooden door studded with iron nails in a diamond pattern, the wood dark 12 / 85
Chalk inscription on a Sololaki wall, the Georgian script faded but legible 13 / 85
Broken glass on top of a boundary wall, the shards catching afternoon light 14 / 85
A stone arch in the old city, the keystone larger than the surrounding blocks 15 / 85
Woven textile hanging in a market stall, the pattern a repeating diamond 16 / 85
The surface of a sulphur pool in Abanotubani: mineral deposits at the rim 17 / 85
A rusted padlock on a wooden gate, the wood beneath it stained by the rust 18 / 85
Stacked wine bottles in a cellar, labels forward, the deep perspective 19 / 85
A tile floor in the Anchiskhati Basilica: the pattern worn through at the threshold 20 / 85
Close-up of Georgian filigree jewellery on a velvet cloth, the silver intricate 21 / 85
Paint peeling from a metal drain pipe, layers of colour exposed 22 / 85
The shadow of a balcony rail falling across a whitewashed wall, midday light 23 / 85
Hand-carved wooden door panel in a Sololaki townhouse, detail of the lower section 24 / 85
Cobblestones in an old Tbilisi alley, the surface uneven from generations of use 25 / 85
A prayer candle burning in a church: the wax running, the flame still 26 / 85
Ceramic pots stacked at a market stall, each one unpainted and identical 27 / 85
The patina on a copper bath fitting in an Abanotubani hammam 28 / 85
An old Tbilisi building number set in mosaic beside the doorway 29 / 85
Faded Georgian script on a shopfront, the background colour still visible 30 / 85
Close-up of a Georgian enamel cloisonné piece: the partitions and the colour between them 31 / 85
A lantern bracket on a stone wall, the bracket ornate and the lantern simple 32 / 85
Stacked firewood beside a house in the old city, the grain of the end-cuts visible 33 / 85
A cracked pavement with a weed growing precisely through the crack 34 / 85
Old Soviet-era tiling in a Tbilisi metro station: the pattern still bold 35 / 85
The junction of two differently aged walls: stone meeting brick meeting plaster 36 / 85
A painted window shutter, the colour a specific Caucasian turquoise 37 / 85
Detail of a Tbilisi balcony: the wood, the vine, and the view through both 38 / 85
Kvevri lids sealed into a winery floor, only the rims flush with the stone 39 / 85
An icon fragment in an antique shop: the gold ground still intact, the face worn 40 / 85
An old letterpress typecase mounted on a Fabrika wall, the cells mostly empty 41 / 85
Tbilisi rooftop: zinc flashing, clay chimney pots, and a single television aerial 42 / 85
Street art on a Marjanishvili wall: the piece faded to near abstraction 43 / 85
A wrought iron balcony in the old town, the railing a vine motif 44 / 85
Handmade bread in a Tbilisi bakery: the surface scored and blistered 45 / 85
An old Tbilisi doorbell: the button worn smooth, the wire exposed beside it 46 / 85
Window glass in an old building: the slight distortion visible in the reflection 47 / 85
A stone fountain in a public square, the basin worn concave at the edges 48 / 85
Graffiti in Georgian script on a corrugated metal fence, bold and quick 49 / 85
A wall of polychrome brick in a Tbilisi courtyard, the pattern interrupted by a doorway 50 / 85
The surface of an old mirror in a barber shop: the silver foxed at the edges 51 / 85
Tbilisi apartment block stairwell: the view straight up through six flights 52 / 85
A candle in a church holder: the wax build-up of many previous candles beneath it 53 / 85
An old mechanical clock face in an antique shop, the hands stopped at 4:17 54 / 85
Damp stone in a sulphur bath: the texture between chalk and limestone 55 / 85
A Tbilisi courtyard gate, the ironwork dark and the courtyard behind it lit 56 / 85
Paint peeling from a cast iron column in a covered market, the colour burnt orange 57 / 85
A doorstep worn concave by a century of feet crossing it 58 / 85
Old keys hanging on a nail inside a guesthouse: the shapes unlike anything current 59 / 85
A Soviet mosaic panel on a Tbilisi building exterior: faded but complete 60 / 85
The wood grain of a Tbilisi balcony floor, split and bleached by weather 61 / 85
A painted shop sign above a doorway, the lettering both Georgian and Russian 62 / 85
Hand-embroidered Georgian ecclesiastical fabric in a church display 63 / 85
The shadow of a tree on a white wall at noon, moving but caught 64 / 85
An abandoned room in a Tbilisi building: the wallpaper intact, the floor collapsed 65 / 85
A market knife sharpener's wheel, the metal worn at the contact point 66 / 85
Tbilisi rooftops at dusk: the warm light on the clay tiles, the sky cooling above 67 / 85
A church door handle: the iron shaped as a human hand, worn by many hands 68 / 85
Wisteria on a Sololaki balcony, the stems thicker than the railing they cover 69 / 85
A Soviet-era elevator door in an old apartment block, the geometric grille intact 70 / 85
The underside of a Tbilisi bridge: the concrete showing its formwork marks 71 / 85
A street map of old Tbilisi mounted on a wall, the streets it shows no longer accurate 72 / 85
A Tbilisi courtyard water tap: the metal green with oxidisation, still running 73 / 85
Painted shutters in three colours on a single building, the colour choices accidental 74 / 85
A stone carving above a church doorway: the figure worn to near abstraction 75 / 85
Tbilisi from the cable car: the city small below, the Mtkvari a thread through it 76 / 85
An old Tbilisi courtyard: the shared space, the multiple balconies, the laundry 77 / 85
Detail of a carved stone lintel in the Narikala area: the chisel marks still visible 78 / 85
A rusted gutter bracket on a plaster wall, the stain running down from it 79 / 85
The texture of raw silk in a Tbilisi fabric shop: the weave loose and irregular 80 / 85
A crumbling wall where the plaster has fallen to reveal the brick and the mortar 81 / 85
An old Tbilisi shop interior: the goods and the dust in equal proportion 82 / 85
A Tbilisi balcony at night: the light from inside spilling onto the wooden boards 83 / 85
The worn marble steps of the Metekhi church, each one a different depth 84 / 85
Final image: a Tbilisi wall at last light, everything worn, nothing removed 85 / 85
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