|
As a setting for a landscape photography course, Gallipoli is one of the most dramatic and challenging one could wish for.
Its landscape will amaze you with its extraordinary variety: sandy beaches, steep rugged cliffs, thick forests gashed by deep jagged ravines interspersed with wheat fields and olive groves leading up to rugged hills linked by knife edge ridges are to be found within the space of a few miles.
And all this in a landscape where the legends of ancient Greece were born - Troy is just across the Hellespont and Jason, accompanied by Hercules and Theseus conducted his search for the Golden Fleece in these parts. And just like those legends, the Gallipoli campaign of 1915 is a tale of terrible hardship and extraordinary bravery set amidst a landscape of stunning beauty and harsh terrain.
The official history opines that 'the drama of the Dardanelles campaign, by reason of the beauty of its setting, the grandeur of its theme and the unhappiness of its ending, will always rank amongst the world's classic tragedies'.
This is a coastline location so the weather and light are constantly changing and our itinerary will be flexible to accommodate whatever the conditions. The course is timed before the heat and dust of the summer and the spring flowers will be in bloom to colour this remarkable landscape.
The landscape is rugged and dramatic and will require a degree of fitness and ability to traverse rough ground but the rewards will be extraordinary. Every square yard of this landscape has a tale to tell so an important part of this course is giving an understanding of events so that we can then seek to better photograph the ground where in a single day the Lancashire Fusiliers won no less that six Victoria Crosses.
We will visit the position held by Kemel Attaturk and where his inspired leadership helped establish the modern state of Turkey. Many of you will have seen David Jason in the TV drama "All the King's Men" about the disappearance of the Sandringham Company of the Norfolk Regiment: this course will visit those same fields and with be telling you the story of one of those soldiers through unpublished personal letters challenge you as photographers to match your skills to the drama of this tragic landscape.
Every square yard of this landscape has a tale to tell so an important part of this course is giving an understanding of events so that we can then seek to better photograph this emotive and historical region.
The days will be hard but the nights will be soft! Our accommodation will be in a small and very comfortable hotel where our hosts Eric and Ozlem Goossens offer a cosmopolitan mixture of Turkish and Belgian cuisine which will ensure a relaxing end to the day with good food and wine as a back-drop to discussing the days activities. Their hotel, set in a tranquil village where at night the loudest sound will be the nightingales which populate the surrounding woods, is quite the best in the region and will be a memorable part of the course.
Flight times have yet to be confirmed for May 2010 but it is intended to fly to Canakkale via Istanbul on Sun 9th. Five days will then be spent photographing within Gallipoli and then the final night will be spent in Canakale before returning to London via Istanbul on Sat 15th.
For more information about these tours please visit www.landscapephotographycourses.com |
