In 1956, the German journalist and photographer Milli Bau (1906–2005) set out in a VW bus to explore the countries along the Silk Road connecting East and West. Planning her journey as she went along, she spent significant periods in some locations, but only passed through others, establishing an affinity for the region along the way. She would return to Tehran again years later to live and work as a correspondent.
Accompanied on her extraordinary journeys by a Rolleiflex and a journal, Bau took photographs of locations along the Silk Road over a period of nearly 20 years, creating a unique record of its cultures, places and people. Milli Bau: Silk Road 1956–1974 is a fascinating document of contemporary history.
