The Azerbaijani village of Novkhany near Baku is located right beside an oil field. RFE/RL photo reporter Petr Shelomovskiy went there to document the daily lives of local farmers and other inhabitants.
Azerbaijan: Life On The Edge Of An Oil Field
Ilshan, a sheperd, and his son Adygezel at their farm near Novkhany.
An oil pumpjack in the field near Ilshan's farm.
Ilshan at work. They are not his sheep -- he is paid $250 a month for looking after them.
Sheep fill the farmyard, as the shepherds return for lunch.
Adygezel, 5, at the entrance of the family home.
Adygezel inside the house.
Petting a horse.
Svetlana, a shepherd's wife, in her home.
Spilled oil near Novkhany village.
Suzanna Bakhyshova in her house on the edge of the oil field in the Binagady district of Baku. The house has no running water and no sewage system.
A broken pumpjack, just outside the family’s wall.
Suzanna pulls back a curtain to reveal the view of the oil field.