North Cyprus in Film
Bonjour ladies & gentleman and welcome to another 35mm blog entry, captured on my trusty Canon AE-1 film camera. Apologies for the delay, my laptop amongst other gear was stolen on my most recent road trip to Barcelona ( a blog entry explaining what happened will be published on the site soon ). However, do not fear the thieves failed to steal the Lord of the Rings Monopoly or Settlers of Catan…amateurs!
North Cyprus was an incredible landscape characterised by its jagged coastlines, imposing mountains, quaint villages and epic castles. Consequently, it was a daily struggle between my sensible half, that stressed the importance of getting in the miles, and my less rational side, which refused to move until I’d nailed the photography. Honestly, I cant blame him…me…I mean don’t get me wrong bicycle touring/bikepacking does allow you to travel at a slower pace and thus take in more of your surroundings, but sometimes it’s still too fast and you just want to sit and completely immerse yourself in nature. I think that’s one of the main reasons I’ve always been so infatuated with photography, the way that it forces you to take a little more time in the moment.
The bad weather in Wales gave the shots an almost dystopian greyness, whereas in North Cyprus the blinding sun combined with the humidity draped the landscape in an almost dream like haze. The castles were truly epic and the lack of health and safety meant you could literally explore every battlement…regardless of how decrepit and precarious it had become. I remember asking the guy at the Kantara tourist booth whether a certain tower was accessible and he said ‘ yeah….if you’re willing to climb a bit! ‘….can you imagine National Heritage staff saying that?! I loved the lack of health and safety, being able to carefully ascend ancient ruins to reach battlements most tourists wouldn’t dare climb was epic. Moreover, these forgotten viewing points often provided a superb platform for landscape photography ( most castles in North Cyprus are strategically built high in the mountains ). I’d planned on spending the night sleeping on the battlements of Buffavento castle in order to shoot the stars, but couldn’t make the 8km climb until the following day, which was a bummer. Anyways, enough of my wittering, I give you North Cyrpus in film. Enjoy.
Scenes like this were far too common and bothered me greatly. Both animals in this picture were in a bad way and had clearly been left for days. It's completely beyond me how some humans are content on mistreating animals, there's no excuse.
Buffavento Castle.
As always I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who continues to support my work. I’m currently building the new section of my website, which will be documenting my transition to living full-time in my VW campervan. The next big expedition will be on the Isle of Skye in December, but in the meantime I’ll be reviewing some awesome new gear so stay tuned!