The Everyday of Life
The Everyday of Life is a collection of portrait, street and travel photography that explores everyday life around the world.
I have long felt the need for a counterweight to the newsworthy images that bombard us daily, always presenting the lives of others within the context of global tragedies and extraordinary events.
It is important for us to bear witness to these events and hardships, and to do what we can to make life better for everyone. But it is also important to look beyond the hardships to see everyday beauty everywhere it lives. This photography project looks for the ordinary, for people at ease in their lives even when their lives may not be easy.
— Photography from The Everyday of Life website —
Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia
This woman and her husband live in Tbilisi, the Republic of Georgia’s capital. They’re part of a small Russian population who remained in Georgia after the fall of the Soviet Union, and in their elder years they still live in the same tiny house where they’ve lived most of their lives.
Were you to walk the streets of Tbilisi today you would see a nation on the rise: crumbling buildings are being restored; boutique hotels are welcoming new tourists; and government programs are encouraging the development of a new digital economy to entice younger generations to settle here and grow the country anew.
But for the elderly, like this lovely woman and her husband, little has changed over the past 35 years. Most have only a small pension to live on, and little government assistance to help them. They have become this growing nation’s new class of the aging poor.
Hakkâri City, Türk Kurdistan
Hidden within the mountains of south-eastern Türkiye and nestled against the borders of Iran and Iraq is the Türk province and Kurdish refuge of Hakkâri.
The climate here can be harsh: hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. The Kurds themselves will tell you that no one ever comes here, and even if they tried the rugged terrain makes travel difficult at best in the summer and impossible in the winter. They will also tell you that life in this small province of Hakkâri is like no one even knows they’re here. But in a good way. Over the years they have grown to accept that being hidden within these mountains and isolated from the rest of the world might just be their best chance to live in peace.
Quba, Azerbaijan
The small Azerbaijani city of Quba rests comfortably to the east of the Caucasus mountains, right where they begin to settle down into the quiet shoreline of the Caspian sea.
Within the city of Quba itself, and resting just as comfortably, this man is enjoying his own quiet moment of peace. Unwinding like the mountains around him. Taking everything in and nothing for granted.
The Town of Lin on Lake Ohrid, Albania
On the highway into and out of the small town of Lin this man sells his fall harvest of onions, potatoes, and his home-made hot pickled peppers preserved in small, plastic water bottles. Throughout the day he waits down the road, relaxing in the grass and under the shade trees. But whenever someone begins to approach he quickly makes his way back to his market stand, buttons his jacket and stands up straight and proper behind his goods — the perfect gentleman waiting to greet you.
The Town of Patuakhali, Bangladesh
In southern Bangladesh, just outside the town of Patuakhali, is a small, planned residential hamlet where Muslim and Hindi families live side-by-side in modest homes just like this one. There’s a small mosque and a Hindu temple along the main road, but the rest of the town and its community grounds are intended to bring the religions together, and without government intervention.
This community has been left alone to become what it’s residences make of it. Though as poor and sparse as other villages in the region, this one has become a model neighbourhood, and everyone works hard to keep it that way.
Dhaka, Bangladesh
These young men have been put in charge of looking after the family goats. At least until tomorrow. They’ve been caring for them for three days as the city and nation prepare for Eid-ul-Azha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice.
Tomorrow morning the entire Muslim world will sacrifice their cows, goats and sheep in celebration of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his own son as a show of faith to Allah.
These animals will be slaughtered right where they stand. It will be bloody and brutal and difficult to witness. The meat will be carved up right on the street the very same day. One third of it will be for the family to keep, one third to share with friends, and one third will be distributed to the poorest people in the nearest neighbourhoods who can’t afford to buy meat for themselves. It will be an emotional day and these young men know it’s coming.
Gaziantep, Türkiye
This man runs a small automotive repair shop in the eastern Turkish city of Gaziantep. The shop is attached to his home, connected to the living room where he sits now. A wood-burning stove anchors the room while bottles of motor oil seem as perfectly placed in the cluttered space as any ornament, teacup or propane tank.
As you might imagine, he’s the kind of person who is bothered by little and who feels at ease wherever he goes. It’s his general disposition in life. Important things come first. He’s more interested in art than politics, in his neighbours than his nation, in what he has than what he has not. The clutter in his life is not deliberate, it’s just the way things fall.
Gaziantep, Türkiye
At the edge of the factory district in the city of Gaziantep, this man, and dozens like him, have all set up table-top shops that line the sidewalk. They come here every weekend to sell their personal collection of hidden treasures in hope of turning a profit. For this man, everything on the table is about a dollar, give or take a Türk Lira. Except for the lemons. The lemons are for lunch.
Coquimbo, Chile
All along the Chilean coast the Pacific Ocean continues to provide endless bounties of fish, all of which seem to end up on the table in front of this man, to clean and filete for the endless line up of Chileans who watch him work as they wait their turn to claim their evening meal. He wears the scent of fish on his clothes and shoes, and the effects of salt, sun and time upon his face.
Barishal, Bangladesh
This young girl and the children around her all live by the river and are playing together in street. The look in her eyes and on her face is no accident, she really does know something about life that the rest of us are still trying to figure out. Let’s hope she grows up with strength enough to guide us all one day.
Vanadzor, Armenia
These two women live in the same 4-story walk-up in the Armenian city of Vanadzor. The buildings here and throughout the country are mostly Soviet-era construction with steep stairwells that make for tough climbs on hard, concrete steps. For these women it’s a climb they need to prepare for. Whenever they get home they will often sit here in the entryway, thirty minutes or so, waiting to get their legs back.
Antalya, Türkiye
This small neighbourhood in the big city of Antalya is a close-knit community of lower income families who’ve all come to know one another well. During the day the front door is left open, replaced by a curtain that’s more for shade than privacy. A few chairs are always kept outside as a standing invitation to stay a while. This may be far from the wealthiest place to live, but no one spends the day alone.
Oaxaca, Mexico
A mother and her two young children have found themselves the perfect view.
The Everyday of Life is a project by the Canadian photographer, Annie Tong. The photographs are mostly from developing and emerging nations and have been taken since 2014. She will be the first to tell you that these photographs are and long to be both uneventful and familiar. They strive to celebrate people at ease in their lives even though their lives may not be easy.