Turkey is a strategically important nation, poised geographically and symbolically
between Europe and Asia. But the tensions at the heart of Turkey are becoming
increasingly severe. A fi erce struggle is taking place between modernity and
tradition, secularism and Islamism, democracy and repression—often in unlikely
and contradictory combinations.
Alongside this is a country modernising at breakneck speed with a growing and
young population.
Having lived in Turkey for 4 ½ years, I was surprised at how quickly change was
taking place: landscapes, towns, and cities reshaped, an extensive road network
under construction, town centers «beautifi ed,» and large apartment blocks
springing up at a rapid rate around every town and city. Almost always, the
architecture and infrastructure follow the same blueprint. Cities are becoming
carbon copies of each other.
Examining everyday life through a combination of portraits landscape, the work
attempts to captures the eff ect of rapid modernization and urbanization on
Turkey’s national psyche.

George Georgiou