After some digging (pun not intended), I found a listing of this show of 26 very large scale color photographs at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The photographer, Ahmet Ertug is also an Architect who studied in London in the 1970's, then worked in England, Iran and Turkey. According to his bio on the museum's website, he became more serious about Photography after receiving a travel grant from the Japan foundation to make a study of the Architecture in that country. During that year of travel he photographed ancient temples, Zen gardens and festivals. After returning to Turkey, he was inspired to document what is left of the Byzantine, Ottoman and Roman structures of Istanbul, known as Constantinople in those times. He is also the founder of a publishing house that has printed 25 books of his photos.
Of the two images from the show that appear on the website, both depict the interiors of ancient churches, and both of these spaces are breathtaking for the beautiful and highly patterned large scale paintings on the walls. One of those photos is most interesting to me because of the paintings and interior details alone. I find the other gorgeous because of that, as well as the way the light is captured and the way the photograph documents the partially ruined interior of the church. I am very interested in seeing more because of these images, and because of what I have read about the photographer. I am drawn to this kind of history, and the opportunity to learn more about this artist and Turkish culture, which I know little about. The fact that these are supposed to be extremely large prints taken with a large format camera is also of great interest to me.
Your description makes this sound like a fascinating exhibition for historic, aesthetic, and cultural reasons, not to mention the large format aspect. Thanks for providing good understanding about why you found this photographer's work worth seeing in person.
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