A Living Record of Global Craft

Alongside the objects in the Tour World Crafts collection exists something equally rare: a photographic archive of the world those objects came from.
Tens of thousands of 35mm slides — shot on location across more than thirty countries over four decades — document the markets, workshops, kilns, and hands behind the pieces now available to collect. These aren’t stock images or travel snapshots. They are firsthand documentation, taken at the moment and place of acquisition, by the people who were there.
That provenance is what makes them matter.

Now Being Digitized

The images shown here come from two collections currently being brought to light: a journey along the China Silk Road Route, and an expedition through the Soviet Union in the early 1990s — a world captured at a singular moment of historical opening.
This is a small window into an archive that spans Morocco to Myanmar, Romania to Peru. More collections will follow as digitization continues.

Prints, Licensing & Inquiries

Selected images are available as archival prints. We also welcome inquiries about licensing for editorial, educational, and design use. If something here speaks to you — or if you’re looking for images from a specific region or era — get in touch.