The Sultans Revenge

This quaint little window was attached to the home stay accommodation at one of our many stops in Turkey during our 80 day challenge. We would have breakfast and dinner on a rooftop, propped up against Turkish cushions, overlooking the coastline. Later the same day, I accepted a lift down the road for supplies from one of the locals, on the back of his motorbike!

Bonnie was my model in this shoot and my travelling companion. We were on the road for a month and a half. On this day, we were walking through a tiny village in the middle of nowhere, and the shadow of her and the landscape caught my eye. I like how you can see that her hair was in a bun!

The reason why this photo essay is called the Sultan's Revenge is the meaning behind this image. I took this image of a drip in my arm to remember my stay in a Turkish Hospital. The day before, while trying to hold back what was left of my breakfast and negotiate my way to a local backpackers, complete with 17kgs strapped to my back in 45 C° heat, I thought, if I don’t get medical help I may not make it home! The hospital was in the middle of nowhere. From my bed I looked out on a field full of cows, which cheered me up a little.

The telephones and vehicles, such as the taxis, had a retro feel to them. Everything looked like it had an update in the 60’s and 70’s but because it wasn’t broke they had decided to leave as is. You would certainly not need to look too hard to find the phone!

To my amazement Turkey has a ton of religious sites, places where the Romans advanced on the Christians, the Silk Road, locations for Star Wars movies. But I did not know that it was the last place that Mary (Jesus mother) was seen alive. I took this photo at this place, they are offerings left behind by the many people who make a pilgrimage each day. These were made from rags, and plastic shopping bags. On the way up to the site, a retro yellow taxi zoomed by with a solo passenger a woman sitting in the back wearing a head scarf and sunglasses.

This photo was taken on the first morning that we arrived in Istanbul, we arrived in on one of the first flights of the morning. It was still dark outside and we knew that our hostel would not be open yet. We hung out in the airport and watched the call to prayer, when it was daybreak, we took a taxi to the hostel, which one block away from the magical blue Mosque.

On my last day in Turkey I went for a trip to the Istanbul Bazaar. It was the most colourful, intricate place I had ever been shopping. I sat in countless carpet shops, drinking apple tea, being shown an array of carpets and cushions. I searched through hundreds and hundreds of lantern shops and fake designer handbags. I spotted this area to the side of one of the laneways, it was just plain weird to me! But I loved it...

Photographer: Geraldine Mills