From Baku with love

The capital of Azerbaijan, which has a population of more than two million people, and has acted as a body double for places as diverse as Buenos Aires, Tehran and Istanbul on the big screen Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/guardian.co.uk From impressive Art Nouveau architecture to leisurely suburbs, the city is full of different rhythms Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/guardian.co.uk Young men play football on a Baku roof Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/guardian.co.uk Mosques, synagogues, Catholic and Orthodox churches sit cheek by jowl in the old town, which in 2000 became a Unesco World Heritage Site Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/guardian.co.uk In his Baku photographs, Pinkhassov (born in Moscow in 1952 and a collaborator of Andrei Tarkovsky's before moving to Paris in 1985), focuses on how particular kinds of light contribute to the city's distinct atmosphere Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/guardian.co.uk Azerbaijani culture looks to the east and west alike Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/guardian.co.uk Statues loom over visitors to the National Museum of Azerbaijan Literature Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/guardian.co.uk Azerbaijan's National Palace of Culture is an impressive sight by night Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/guardian.co.uk Locals sit by one of Baku's fountains Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/guardian.co.uk Baku port is limited in its ultimate scope because of its location on the landlocked Caspian Sea Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/guardian.co.uk "Pinkhassov perfectly captures the essence of the city, one with all the delights of the orient and yet an oriental capital with western charm," says Leila Alieva, editor of Baku Magazine, which commissioned the photographs. • The exhibition Baku with Love by Gueorgui Pinkhassov will be shown at Mall Galleries from Sunday 14 - Friday 19 February, 10am-5pm Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photograph: Gueorgui Pinkhassov/guardian.co.uk