Special places: Turkey
Turkey Cinemascope
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At the end of 1972 I travelled to Istanbul by train from Iran—a meditative journey across the Turkish winter landscape. Under damp foreboding skies I visited the great church of Hagia Sophia and the great Mosque of Sultan Ahmet I, and enjoyed the conjunction of the Orient and the Occident.
I have not been back, but these photographs by Turkish film maker Nuri Bilge Ceylan are the next best thing. He took them while scouting for film locations, and they have cinematic aspects. These widescreen images are all about people in relationship to places.
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Dust on my shoes
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Peter Pinney’s 1952 book Dust on my shoes is the story of his journey from Greece to Burma. I discovered this book after a little journey of my own. On the continuum from tourist through traveller to adventurer, I class myself as a traveller, and Pinney as an adventurer. This is a travel book in the genre of the ripping yarn. The exotic places provide a reason, a flavour and a setting for the daring and dangerous human interactions.
This website has been built around the text and photos of Pinney’s book. Slabs of Pinney’s text are available as readings with animated illustrations. A modern parallel journey is being revealed through film clips and text. There is a musical journey featuring Kavisha Mazzella and Mick Thomas, and a collection of biographical material about Peter Pinney.
You’ll need Flash, and a broadband connection, to enjoy this website.
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