istanbul again

So now I'm back in Istanbul, it's about September 21.
Each day I'd move my photos to a storage device, so each day
is now on my computer as a separate folder ~ or
sometimes 2, when I used both cameras.
In 'real time' now I'm starting to make new works from
these many thousands of photos, as well as from the way
the mental images cross fertilise.

Did I mention before how I love the walls in Istanbul?
Some have stood for longer than trees, & you know how
strong trees are to touch. So they are more akin to mountains.
Mountains that speak as you pass by..

miki soejima's photos ~ intriguing stories

castle

Overlooking the lake, on stone cliffs is the old castle.
We went up there for a splendid sunset on the last evening
in Van. Below, there'd been at least one bloody conflict.
A small mosque by the great Sinan is being restored.

synaptic stimuli

armenian church

We went across Lake Van to the medieval church where there
was an historic church service the next day, Sept 19.
It's a delightful building. We'd met the co-publishers of a
new book on Aghtamar church, half of which
is devoted to colour photos & architectural drawings.

It was then I realised I'd made a drawing from an old book,
perhaps 40 years ago, of one of the reliefs below left.
(I've made about 3 drawings with a christian reference, ever)

I doubt if it means anything except that the figures carved
all round this 10th century church are a delight.
It has an altogether happy feel to it, on it's own little
island on the beautiful lake ~ in spite of the tragic history.

on foot

We had a remarkable day walking in Van. People so friendly
& generous ~ sweet! Flew back to Istanbul 2 days later.

One man asked why I was photographing a broken house,
when I said because I found it beautiful, he shrugged,
clearly thought I was a bit crazy.

missed connections

4th century

Near Van, in an old village full of beautiful children are the
remains of a very early Armenian orthodox church.
The back section has a strong presence;
all places of worship, whatever religion,
seem to achieve that over the centuries, no?

intense messages in the photographs of taryn simon

van museum

With all the side trips we didn't get to see much of Van at
first. It has a small but charming museum. I particularly
liked the figures in the courtyard, found only 12 years ago
in Hakkari, carved there some time between the 15th
& 11th century BC. They have that amused look of
so much naive art, though the times may have been
quite serious then, too.

more details on the Hakkari stelae

dogubeyazit

After the beauty of the Ishak Pasa Palace, the nearby city of
Dogubeyazit is.. well, not very attractive, or if it is
I didn't see that part

We went into a depressing market, full of tacky stuff,
isn't it odd how that sometimes makes interesting photos?

goodisdead

ishak pasa palace

I loved the Ishak Pasa Palace & the stories attached to it:
He was sent in Ottoman times to this remote place, to manage
the caravan trade on the silk road. He built huge storerooms
for his take of that trade, & this warm & refined palace.
His son continued, & Constantinople was far away..

I could imagine him personally choosing the site, which is
overlooked by an early Urartian castle/fort, it folds
itself into the crags, almost invisible. Now there is a roof
protecting the palace, it must have been deserted for many
years, graffiti scratched across walls, possibly a source of
building materials, though there's not much else around.
Dogubeyazit in the distance.

Georgia Russell ~ amazing, thought provoking constructions
Watched Brilliant Moon last night,
about the great Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche ~ lovely!

seljuk

Something poetic about this Seljuk cemetery,
as if warriors were buried where they fell, defending where
they'd staked their claim. They were nomads from central Asia
who came to this land & discovered the wish to settle.
Rumi was from that line.

Some larger tombs are nearby. The design right was
explained as resembling tent pegs, used so they would
remember their roots.. "so they say".
Quite a few of the historic details, everywhere, are
subjective at least, don't you think?

Have been attending some of John de Ruiter's meetings
over last few days, we are lucky that different teachers
come to Byron Bay.

Van

As we came through more mountain country to Van, I
realised the tour was close to over, we had 4 nights here, taking
shorter trips in different directions each day.
So it slowed down a little, but I sort of speeded up,
wanting to see every thing around me..

always nice to see quiet picnics under the trees, I also took
many shots of the small isolated houses in large landscapes.
Van was busy with a unique event about to happen, the
Armenian church on Akdamar island, in the lake, was to
have the first service in almost 100 years, many people
including Armenians, were expected.
On the day it was fewer, unfortunately; there is still a lot
of strong feelings on the subject.

we spent a day with the interesting journalist who wrote this

volcano lake

After Tatvan, on the western end of Lake Van, we drove into
the surrounding mountains, an extinct volcano, with it's lake.
I was deeply affected by that place. The clouds were low &
fast, their shadows curved across the slopes, it was an
immensely still & pure space.

Obsidian boulders. Lake Van in the distance, largest salt
lake in the world I think, it's wonderful, & so far they
have done quite a good job of keeping the foreshores vacant.

mapping the marvellous what a great poem on Nov 1 post

hasankeyf

A late afternoon arrival at Hasankeyf, which will soon be
under the waters of another huge dam, unless there is a
timely discovery of oil, or minerals or Aladdin's cave or
something. It's falling apart, though the shop sells sim cards
& maybe the people won't mind,

cave living could be uncomfortable.. but there's many caves,
people have lived there for time beyond memory,
I wonder what might be lost beyond recovery.
They will be relocated on the far rim.

carolyn drake's photos at Hasankeyf
tibet archaeology

country

Saw another Syrian orthodox church/museum
~ liked the tapestry~ & passed through small towns
of the sort you only want to be old enough to leave,
but which looked pleasant, & lots more mountains..
Turkey is big & often reminiscent of Australia.

Syrian artist in the New York Times

mardin

The travelogue continues! Mardin is a place to spend more time in,
there's a long history of all religions living together harmoniously,
& it's an attractive city.

That's tiaras above left ( indispensable items!). & the frothy
wedding dresses are in many places, as is gold jewellery.

The Saffron monastery & the hermits' caves above. It had some
interesting naive paintings.

romeartlover again ~ there's a lot we didnt see there.

bridge

An old bridge near Diyarbakir. It's story goes like this: two
villages on opposite banks of the Tigris river agreed to build a bridge.
When they met half way, it did not line up, so they had to
fudge the join.

more details than I had at the time at romeartlover

diyarbakir

I guess it's part of the Mesopatamian plain, stark, rocky, hot,

Diyarbakir has a wonderful old caravanserai, with some
shops, a big courtyard & balconies where you can drink tea

& a mosque that looks like an early Greek (or Roman?) base
overlaid with kufic inscriptions, it's so battered it
looks comfortable with such a mix.
There's no doubt more to see there than we did.

its lucky books by artists isn't close by, too tempting

harran

This was a dispiriting place, somehow, very old beehive houses,
Syria in sight, 'the oldest university' just behind..

..possibly the source of some of the artifacts.
That's our guide Sabahattin left, he looked after us well.

I think Abraham is supposed to have spent time here.

gobekli tepe

It was late afternoon before we reached Gobekli Tepe,
the light was impossible for good details. Its on a hill with
a wide view of what's coming. It felt like a secret place
just the same, something of the quiet of a 'women's place'.
(as in the Australian aboriginal meaning)

Currently dated at 11,000 years old, there is a lot of
conjecture. A local farmer says his family is trying to get an
equal amount of land ~ the dig was their farm ~ from the
authorities, I hope they do or people won't divulge what they find.

There are some really interesting sites about it:
mathildasanthropologyblog terraeantiqvae
deutsches archaologisches institut

urfa

At Urfa there are legends to do with Abraham, & a pool
full of large fish, I think carp, next to the mosque &
the cave where Abraham is said to have been born.

People were relaxing & eating with their families.
I think there is no meal without bread. Noticed the
cooking plates look just like Indian thawas for cooking
chappati. The photos on galenfrysinger
seem to be from an earlier time.

ataturk dam

People were in holiday mode as we waited for the small
ferry across ataturk dam, it was hot, boys were swimming,
that's a stork!

after nemrud

Stayed at a very modest place near Nemrud, the people
are largely Kurdish, it's not an easy life, but happens in a
stunningly dramatic landscape. One description of tool
top left is it's for working stone, harder stones are fitted
into the holes.

interesting books blog erikheywood

nemrud dagh

We made it to Nemrud in time for sunset, I felt my age
on the walk to the top

a truly spectacular position, the heads are taller than me;
although there was a big crowd, the site hushed them
a little. You have to wonder at the ambitions of man
& where it ultimately leads... I guess his name is
still remembered, whatever that means.


read more about it here

to nemrud

We connected with our guide/driver just after Ramadan
& left for Nemrud Dagh

through harvested wheat fields, hills, mountains,
it was riveting country, also hard, spare, rocky, I saw
at least 40,000 paintings & lost quite a few photos
through glass, speed, whatever.

grainedit

ihlara valley

The second day-tour was the 'green' one, it included a short
walk through another pretty valley,

if I haven't mixed it up, that was Ihlara, bounded by steep
cliffs with more caves. The terrain is changing all the time,
I never got tired of looking.

far, far away villagevoice on new york art

red tour

We joined 2 one day tours, due to the arrangements of our
main tour of eastern Turkey. It's one way of seeing a lot
fast (look right, that was ..) my advice is rent a car for
more distant areas. Though there were some very
interesting people on the 'red' tour.

If you like horse riding, this sounds like a really great way
to go

tourists

Tourism is big in Cappadocia. Efforts to cash in on that
range from the modest to .. rather ill-advised

5 days was a relatively long time there, though I could
have stayed much longer. For instance I'd have liked
to visit all the old caravanserais

cavusin

Coming out of the valley there is an exceptional view,
hard to convey in photos, something happens to the perception
of distance, as if the eyes shift it back,
it's too vast to take in, yet is closer than it appears.

abstractcomics