Alexandria, Istanbul, Smyrna & Thessaloniki. Photographs by Brenda Turnnidge 1992-2013
Symbolic spaces dotted with 20th century and more ancient ruins, nondescript apartment blocks hide grand mansions, art-deco edifices and hidden souks. Places of faith ... Corniche facelifts and spectacular skylines greet the traveller.. , the smell of baklava wafts in the air ... Once multicultural Mediterranean megalopolises haunted by their polyglot ghosts. Blind Byzantine icons, mosques converted to cinema halls, synagogues conspicuous by their absence... Cities in the process of being re-invented. Youth anxious to bury the pasts & move on ...
Change is, of course, the essence of urban life and no successful city remains a museum to its own past.
Mazower Mark (2004) SALONICA CITY OF GHOSTS. London. Harper Perennial
Photographer's note: I have omitted captions on purpose. Should you require detailed information concerning a particular photograph, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks.
