This series tells the story of rural exodus, an epic tale that is at once personal and universal. Having explored his native Anatolia in the series Homeland, Serkan Taycan turned his focus on the outskirts of Istanbul, where nature is on a collision course with urban expansion. The ruins trace the story of civilization, illustrating the changes in rural Turkey, whose inhabitants have largely left for the cities. Photographing his subjects head-on, Taycan contrasts the emptiness of the countryside with the new developments capturing the ever-changing borders and the disappearance of resources.
In these monumental images, sometimes presented in triptychs, the lines formed by plants and rocks establish a tension between the imposing and majestic power of nature in the foreground, and its invasion by giant metal and concrete structures. There is a futurist look to these portraits of urbanization, with construction trucks, apartment buildings and other foot soldiers of development laying siege to these areas for an indefinite time. In the rigorously geometric compositions, nature is deformed and contorted under the pressure of the concrete, depleted by the incessant push or urban expansion.
Serkan Taycan – Kabuk
Until February 9th, 2013
Elipsis Gallery
Hoca Tahsin Sokak No: 16
Karaköy, 34425
Turkey
Tel: + 90 212 249 48 92
Fax: + 90 212 244 89 06
