Cappadocia Rock Photographs 2018 – 2019
While in Turkey in 2018, I visited the Cappadocia region in Central Anatolia from April 22 – 25. This is an area of curious and fantastical landscape and rock formations. Long ago, the region’s volcanoes, triggered by extensive plate tectonic movement, filled the region with volcanic ash that settled and compacted over time creating layers of very soft stone. Erosion shaped the landscape into conical forms and a variety of other interesting shapes. Different layers of stone in some of these so-called “Fairy Chimneys” vary in color and hardness as geological processes added visual magic to the shapes.
The stone, being so soft, was easily carved—even using very simple tools—and the cones and towers were turned into homes, churches, monasteries, dovecotes and even entire underground cities.
In these photographs I wanted to emphasize the very graphic and abstract nature of the geometry of the shapes, separating them from the very complex context of the landscape surrounding them. To do this I removed almost all of the contextual information surrounding the forms setting them against solid black or white backgrounds. This allowed me to feature the shapes as dramatically as possible and to create a sense of mystery in the photos.
