Kept Light » Hagia Sophia

Touching The History Photography Exhibit

A. Cemal Ekin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:13:28 +0000

You might have read about my unique experience in the dome of Hagia Sophia and the first photography exhibit of the work of that experience in Cleveland last May-June. This fall, a slightly expanded version of the same exhibit is coming to Rhode Island. The small preview images below do not do justice to the 16×20 inch framed photographs, printed on special metallic paper to replicate the reflectivity of gold that surrounds the Great Dome. Visit the exhibit, come to the opening reception, hear my experience, and see the Great Church from a vantage point you most likely have not seen.

Below are the specifics:

Touching The History: Photographs From The Dome Of Hagia Sophia

Dates: September 8 – October 22, 2010

Location: Providence College Hunt-Cavanaugh Art Gallery

Gallery hours: 9 AM – 4 PM Monday-Friday

Opening reception: September 16, 2010 5 – 7 PM, Gallery talk at 6:00 PM

I may be able to arrange off hour visits for those who cannot make it during the gallery hours, contact me for special arrangements.

Here are some of the photographs in digital format.

[Show as slideshow]

Hagia Sophia Exhibit Opening

A. Cemal Ekin — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:37:29 +0000

The Hagia Sophia exhibit at the CSU Art Gallery opened on May 21, 2010 along with the works of three more artists. We had a chance to meet new people at the opening and we will likely keep in touch with them. A political science professor and one of his students from Hiram College traveled for about one hour to be there, thank you both. They are part of a group planning a trip to Turkey next year; who knows, our roads may meet again there.

Below are some photographs from the opening night. These are from the section that contained my work and my conversation with the visitors who came to see the work.

[Show as slideshow]

Hagia Sophia Exhibit, Cleveland, May 21 – June 21

A. Cemal Ekin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:18:37 +0000

Exhibit Statement

A collection of my photographs will be on exhibit in the Cleveland State University Art Gallery. The exhibit titled “Touching the History: Photographs From the Dome of Hagia Sophia” will be on display for one month opening on May 21, 2010. Opening reception and a brief talk will be on May 21, 2010 between 5 – 7 PM. View the exhibit catalog . Printed copies of the catalog may be obtained in bulk at cost from MagCloud. (Please read the note before ordering and do not order single copies as the bottom half of the back cover will be white, making room for labeling and postage.)

Address: 2121 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-2214 | 216.687.2000

Hagia Sophia Folio

A. Cemal Ekin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:49:15 +0000

I have created a folio of 12 photographs from the dome of Hagia Sophia. The photographs are printed photographically on metallic paper which brings out the reflective qualities of gold extremely well. The folio opens with a title page, includes a certificate of authenticity, and continues with a collection of 12 photographs. They are all enclosed in a hand made gold-charcoal folio cover. I sign and number the certificate of authenticity and the folio cover. This stunning collection will make an excellent addition to anyone’s art collection.

The current price of the folio is $250 per set and will increase to $300 after the copy number 6, to $400 after copy number 10. There may be additional increases after that and the total number of folios of this collection will be limited to 18 copies with no more than 3 artist proofs.

Available copies are:

Copy	Price	Status

#1-#6	$250	Sold
#7-#10	$300	Sold
#11-13	$400	Sold
#14-#18	$400 *	Available

* Subject to change

Please contact me using the form on the “Contact” page if you have questions or are interested in acquiring a copy for your collection or for gift giving.

Here are the photographs in the folio collection

[Show as slideshow]

Six-Winged Seraphim 3D

A. Cemal Ekin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 00:53:13 +0000

As I mentioned in the previous post, the newly unveiled Seraphim mosaic in Hagia Sophia reminded me of a head mapped to a flat surface. I am not an expert in 3D mapping, but I created the following composite showing how the face could have looked in 3D. I used FaceShop, a Photoshop plugin, to map the features of the depicted face to the features of a 3D face. The software then creates a 3D model that can be rotated maintaining the features of the original. I took two angles that show the shape of a face.

I wanted to see how this would look to see if the original artists could have envisioned how a rounded face could be presented on a flat surface. This is a speculative image at best, a curiosity item, a thinking tool.

Two views of the 3D mapping of the mosaic