I wanted the Caspian in-between — where Tatar quilting meets Isfahani brocade at the one crossing where both civilizations weighed their wealth. The saffron velvet against indigo stone is the whole photograph: warmth held inside cold vaulted brick, a woman who runs the crossing and knows it. I kept her turning back with a real smile, not a challenge — the confidence of someone at ease in her own weigh-house. — Lux