Turkmenistan is located in south central Asia and has a population of about 5 million covering an area roughly the size of Spain. The neighboring countries are Iran and Afghanistan to the south, and Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to the north.
According to Reporters Without Borders's 2019 World Press Freedom Index, Turkmenistan had the worst press freedom conditions in the world and ranked last out of the 180 registered countries... stricter than North Korea.
The government allows no free media or independent activists, and access to the internet is tightly controlled. There is only one, state-run, mobile network provider, which has a long blacklist of news websites leaving the population at the mercy of state-run news only.
Ashgabat, the eerily empty capital of the country, is often referred to as 'one of the strangest cities in the world' and known for its lavish white marble buildings and grandiose national monuments.
The photographer secured rare access to the country in February 2016.