Unfettered
Mardin, Turkey 2009
This was shot from the balcony of our hotel room in Mardin. We stayed in a beautiful palace from the Ottoman era. We walked to our palace room through the neighborhood streets, passing and observing the locals as they went about their lives. Priceless.
This photo is one of my favorites because it was shot at the same height as the birds are flying. I get a sense of freedom when I look at it. The birds soaring unfettered over the ancient land add life to the photo. I almost feel as if I know what it would be like to fly.
If you plan a visit to Turkey, whether Eastern Turkey or Western, you can’t do better than to contact Mehmet Ozbalci. Mehmet is charming, intelligent and knowledgeable. I was struck by how much he knew not only about photography and the history of his own culture and religion but about Christianity as well.