1960 September - Iran. Close to Mashad in Khorasan. Tus [Tous] the remains of a citadel which had an important place on the Silk Road. Originally there were four of these mud brick towers and the site which is now covered with a large roof dates back more than 2000 years. Tus was known to the Ancient Greeks and in 330BC it was sacked by Alexander the Great. Its demise and decline was sealed when it was destroyed by the Mongol invasions between AD1220 and 1259. I was lucky to visit Tus during a journey to India when the area was deserted.

Camera MPP Microflex Twin Lens Reflex with F3.5 77.5mm Taylor Taylor Hobson lens. Film Kodak Verichrome Pan Yellow filter X1 at F8 - 1/300 second. I developed the film by hand in a village in India using May and Baker Promicrol at normal dilution with water from a local well. The negative has minor defects in the centre that were probably caused by the extreme daytime heat - more on this in Art of Silver.

Negative Iran 60 02 © Tony Morrison