What's (in) the Picture?

Chris Breebaart Photography – finding stories

Posts from the ‘Turkey’ category

Turkey 1988: Cappadocia Göreme Valley 2

An aerial view of rugged, rocky terrain featuring large boulders and sparse vegetation.

Turkey, Göreme Valley – September 1988

The Göreme Historical National Park in Cappadocia is a mesmerizing part of Turkey. Erosion and geological layers build a tapestry of shapes and colors. That combined with a beautiful history of cultural human existence it is an experience you never forget. 

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.

Originally shot with Nikon F301 on Fuji 200, scanned from negative and tweaked using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Turkey 1988: Cappadocia Göreme Valley 1


Turkey, Göreme Valley – September 1988

The Göreme Historical National Park in Cappadocia is a mesmerizing part of Turkey. Erosion and geological layers build a tapestry of shapes and colors. That combined with a beautiful history of cultural human existence it is an experience you never forget.

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.

Originally shot with Nikon F301 on Fuji 200, scanned from negative and tweaked using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Turkey 1986: Kayseri

A group of people gathered around a tractor near a pile of cut firewood in an outdoor setting.
Turkey, Kayseri – September 1988

Early morning market in Kayseri, central Turkey.

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.

Originally shot with Nikon F301 on Fuji 200, scanned from negative and tweaked using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version., the light falls over a group, if I remember correctly, German tourists listening to a guide.

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.

Originally shot with Nikon F301 on Fuji 200, scanned from negative and tweaked using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Turkey 1986: Galata Bridge

Panoramic view of a city skyline at dusk, featuring domed buildings and minarets along the water, with a soft, hazy atmosphere.
Turkey, Istanbul – September 1988

The Galata Bridge in Istanbul at sundown, taken from the Bosporus.

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.

Originally shot with Nikon F301 on Fuji 200, scanned from negative and tweaked using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version., the light falls over a group, if I remember correctly, German tourists listening to a guide.

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.

Originally shot with Nikon F301 on Fuji 200, scanned from negative and tweaked using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Turkey 1988: Hagia Sophia

Group of people gathered under a chandelier in a large, illuminated room with rays of light streaming down.
Turkey, Istanbul – September 1988

The Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, the light falls over a group, if I remember correctly, German tourists listening to a guide.

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.

Originally shot with Nikon F301 on Fuji 200, scanned from negative and tweaked using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Exploring Tourist Attractions: The Far Photo Gallery

Leann Cole suggested ‘tourist attractions, near and far’ as LAPC’s 307. My motivation for going to places changed in my life time. From ‘active’ holidays (including climbing some big mountains by bycicle) to complete leisure (eg seeing the Greek Isles with lots of lazy moments). And in between the travels to dig into the culture and essence of a place on earth, to learn and experience it. But wherever I went as a ‘photographer’ I tried to capture where I was. To be stunned by what is just there in front of you, the unexpected. And yes, the times I did visit an ‘iconic attraction’ I tried to find my own way of framing it, trying to keep away form the cliches that are so widely known. For this challenge I dig into my blogs archive, all the photos are here published already.

Over the years I learned to value and appreciate my own way of looking, being surprised by my own views of what I saw and how I saw it. To appreciate simple things of beauty that stuck out or the composition of objects. If you travel far, you are only there for a moment, if you stay close to home you have access all of the time. But being close to home the challenge is bigger to stay open, to see what is there, to not take it for granted.

After the ‘near’ version yesterday, today is the ‘far’ version. My blog archive here goes back to 2018 so that is de scope of picking. I started picking them in a big gallery, and doing that it got quite big. But I leave it as it is. I hope you bear with me and browse through them.

You can see randomly photos from England, Greece, France, Germany (some are from Berlin in november 1989), Egypt, Turkey, Yemen, Tibet, Nepal, Belgium, Ireland, Malta, Italy (Rome), Spain. Occasionally you wil see an iconic object, but most of the time I was there for the landscape, the street encounters, nature etc. And I cheated a bit: there are some photos of Tourist Attractions from far that came to Amsterdam in the Ziggo Dome: Genesis and Peter Gabriel.

I hope you do enjoy the gallery, and if you want to plunge deep into more of it I invite you to search by category or countries if you are interested in more.

From the archive: Izmir 1986

Turkey, Izmir – October 1986

This week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge (#164) is ‘Looking Up/Looking Down’.

Again one from the archives. This is an original color film, turned into monochrome. I can not remember what camera I used for it, it must have been a simple point and shooter. The bland color photo turned into a lively pattern of monochrome tints. This is a part of Izmir, near the old Kadifekale, a hillcastle on Mount Pagos.

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.

Originally shot with a point and shooter on Fuji 200, scanned from negative and tweaked using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Ephesus 1983

Turkey, Selcuk/Ephesus – July 1983

The theme for this week Lens-artists challenge #157 is ‘getting away’.

Near Selçuk in the west of Turkey, one can find the excavation of Ephesus. This is the Marble Road, looking down to the library of Celsus at noon on a very hot day. The negative is damaged, but it was one of the first times I dared to trespass because the contradiction between past and present was that stunning. In 1983 Turkey was ruled by a regime of generals, and taking photographs of anything military was forbidden. The young soldiers passed us going down the hill, and I could not resist to take this photos in this ancient setting. Quickly and a bit nervouws, so I did not pay too much attention to properly measure the light. But I have the photo and I got away with it :-).

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish. Some of them are partly retouched but most do have scratches, dust and stains.

The  picture was originally shot with Pentax K1000 on Kodak Plusx, scanned from negative
and tweaked using Snapseed and Marksta. Click the picture for a larger version.

Ephesus 1988

Turkey, Ephesos/Selcuk – September 1988

The theme for Lens-artists Weekly Photo Challenge #113 is ‘A labor of love’.

Ephesus is a beautiful excavation near Selçuk in the west of Turkey. The library of Celsus is an amazing piece of architecture and art.

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish in – an originally – small series. That series caught on a bit more than I thought. All of them are not retouched yet. Scratches, dust and stains are not removed.

Göreme Valley 1988

Turkey, Göreme Valley, September 1988

The theme for Lens-artists Weekly Photo Challenge #110 is ‘Creativity in a time of Covid’.

Looking back in the archive for another challenge, I dug up some old images. This is Turkey, 1987. It must be Fuji film, and probably Nikon F301 with a long lens, but I am not sure.

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish in – an originally – small series. That series caught on a bit more than I thought. All of them are not retouched yet. Scratches, dust and stains are not removed.

Wish: Mary’s House Ephesus

The weekly theme is ‘wish’.

The wall next to the house where Mary supposedly lived in Ephesus in Turkey, is full of small notes with wishes and messages.

About the B4 retouch series:
I browsed my archive for pictures to publish in – an originally – small series. That series caught on a bit more than I thought. All of them are not retouched yet. Scratches, dust and stains are not removed.

Turkey, Ephesus – September 1999

Shot with Nikon F90 on Kodak TriX, scanned from film and edited using Snapseed and  Marksta .Click the picture for a bigger version

A list of other entries to this theme; if you do not want to be on this list let me know and I remove the link