Anatolian Landscapes is the result of a long train ride from Istanbul to Adana, going through the plains, mountains, villages, towns, and experiencing the rapid change of the scenery, photographed from the moving train with no second chance to shoot again. Consequently, each photo is close to being unique.
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 wanted 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 that 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!
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Tom Backman
I loved your shots. They underscore the beauty and vastness Turkey!
Question, when shooting from the moving train, how did you do it, with the window opened or closed? If you shot through the window, how did you avoid a window reflection of the inside of the train car?
A. Cemal Ekin
Thank you Tom. Most of the time the window was open, I could open and close them. If there were any shot through the window, I would have touched the front of the lens to the glass. But I don’t think this was necessary. — Cemal