Passing Through Anatolia

Fifteen photographs from this collection were published in the International Lens Magazine, August 2019 issue under the title Anatolian Landscapes. See the related post.

Anatolian Landscapes is the product of a long train ride from Istanbul to Adana, passing through Anatolia, going through the plains, mountains, villages, towns, and experiencing the rapid change of the scenery. I photographed from the moving train window with no second chance to shoot again. Consequently, each photo is close to being unique.

Passing Through Anatolia: Take A Train To See

One can see more when not driving, even better, when riding on a train. Looking out, all the scenery and all the people you see remain anonymous. I like that. It is a last-ditch effort to separate a photograph from reality. Inextricably tied to the real world, photography and reality seem to be forever chained together.

By keeping these locations and a few people anonymous, I want to emphasize the photographs rather than “who, what, where” issues. Even the young woman who nonchalantly shakes a blanket from a second-floor balcony with no railing will remain anonymous. The large “Welcome To The Town of Fethibey” banner above a local bus clearly identifies the location. Although I could have removed it from the sequence, I chose to emphasize this bond momentarily only to let it slip through the fingers once more.

I chose a format that mimics the vista, wide and expansive. Consider the few square-format photographs as punctuation marks, and take your pick!

This is Anatolia; high, low, cool, warm, rough, smooth!