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In Photos: Low-Carbon Tbilisi amid Pandemic

On April 17, two days ahead of of Easter celebrations, the biggest religious event in the Orthodox Christian calendar, the Georgian Government announced nationwide ban on private vehicles in a bid to make it easier to aid social distancing and to dissuade Orthodox Georgians from attending the Easter Vigil en masse.

The unexpected 10-day long ban on driving offered many Tbilisians a glimpse of what low-carbon future of the city could look like.

On Friday and Saturday – April 17-18 – between 19:00 and 20:00, right before the dask-to-dawn curfew, Eléonore Garnier hit the streets to capture what would usually be traffic peak time in central Tbilisi.

In the words of Garnier, “the absence of cars in the foreground enabled the viewer to catch the whole city landscape in one quick glance. The pictures reproduce the feeling that many Tbilisians discovered during the holy week of 2020: without any moving distractions in front of them, they could finally look up.”

Empty gas station at the usually busy intersection of the Noe Zhordania Left Bank and Kosta Khetagurov Street. Photo: Eléonore Garnier
Nikoloz Baratashvili Rise has become a safer ride downtown from Avlabari neighborhood. Photo: Eléonore Garnier
Facing Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue from Kote Marjanishvili Square. Empty roads and clear sky made it possible to see the hills behind Dighomi neighborhood on the background. Photo: Eléonore Garnier
Empty Rustaveli Avenue, the Georgian capital’s main thoroughfare. Photo: Eléonore Garnier
Opera bus stop indicating what would usually be traffic peak time on a Friday evening on Rustaveli Avenue. Photo: Eléonore Garnier
Empty embankment in the old town. Photo: Eléonore Garnier
Empty Rustaveli Avenue. Photo: Eléonore Garnier
Central Freedom Square in April has become a hotspot for many video-drone owners. Photo: Eléonore Garnier
Construction work near the Dry Bridge. Photo: Eléonore Garnier
Empty crossroads between the Public Service Hall and Nikoloz Baratashvili bridge. Photo: Eléonore Garnier
Extended hopscotch in a courtyard of Chughureti district. Photo: Eléonore Garnier
New kind of laundry hanging in “Italian” courtyards of Chughureti district. Photo: Eléonore Garnier
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