Time cannot be reversed. Some things are gone – and no one can do anything about this. But at least we can enjoy the pictures of the past – and imagine dozens of ways in which it could’ve gone. Today’s photoreporting is dedicated to this. I wanted to compare Alma-Ata with Almaty – and return a little bit into the past.

All old images are taken from pastvu.com – the terms of this service allow anyone to use the photos on non-commercial basis. All new photos are taken by me.

Perhaps you would be surprised by the absence of “mainstream” objects from the centre of the city – but I didn’t want to include them. I wanted to walk around the places where I grew up – and reminisce, wanted to bring something personal into this.

I made ten times more photos – but unfortunately I cannot share all of them with you. But even among these photos you can notice that some topics appear more often than others. Can you guess, which ones? 😉

There are some places that are very ugly nowadays. But this is not a gallery. This is the scale of time. You are the one to judge the changes – not me.

Some things, though, cannot be left without a judgement. We are yet to learn how to respect our own history.

Looking on some photos, you would never believe that this is the same place. It’s okay. I had the same feelings.

But in the end, something will never change. The soul of the city of thousand colors. At least I hope so…