Returning to Amasya, a photo from Amasya, Central Anatolia

Photographer's Note

Today I return to Amasya from where I posted a photo a couple of weeks ago. The title also refers to the fact that I this month returned to Amasya 41 years after my first visit to this small city in the Turkish Black Sea region.

The history of Amasya goes back thousands of years and traces of early civilizations are still found. On the mountainside you can see man-made caves containing Hellenistic tombs from the last centuries B.C. In the city are several medieval mosques and hammams, bath-houses. And the banks of the Yeşilırmak, the river running through the city, are lined with Ottoman style houses.

"Ottoman style" indicates that I am not quite sure they were all built during the 18th or 19th centuries. I have a strong feeling that many of the houses seen today, including in this photo, are quite recent but built in a traditional style. That doesn't make them less beautiful to watch but may be a reason why this beautiful and very nice city has not received the status as a World heritage.

When I first visited Amasya in 1971 the population was maybe 30 000. Today the city has grown to almost 100 000 inhabitants. I was slightly surprised that I recognized so little from my earlier visit. Two workshops will explain the reason for my loss of memory: Amasya - beyond the riverside - is a completely different city from 41 years ago.

milad_abazari, ciakgiak, Kielia, pajaran, tyro, bayno, saxo042, Tigerlily, ACL1978, fabbs99, bukitgolfb301, macjake, Highmountains, Sonata11, emka, marabu61, mohammad_H, kordinator, serp2000, ayferaldanmaz, ourania, delpeoples, Angshu has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

COSTANTINO (42746) 2012-10-23 5:11

Hello
there is a great originality in this shot
reading your useful notes it is understood
that the history of Amasya goes back
thousand of years,excellent chosen point
of view showing old traditional details
it is interesting that the river
running through the city
regardsa
Costantino

milad_abazari (1648) 2012-10-23 5:55

Hi Gert
Register beautiful and perfect combination of good lighting. All is well. With respect

abmdsudi (26311) 2012-10-23 6:31

Hi Gert
I like the crop with good diagonal touch taking viewers through the scene and the prominent Turkish style architectrue backed bay the stunning rocky mount to anchor the eye. Excellent details in natural colors, sharp in good contrast with favorable clarity. Speck of vivid red is excellent addition for extra interest and patch of green breaks the earth color monotony. Fine shot of this historic location, good effort. Well done. Congrats.
Kind regards

ciakgiak (30331) 2012-10-23 7:50

Ciao Gert,
Innanzitutto note molto interessanti a corredo di un'immagine che ci propone in maniera eccelsa un posto splendido.
La composizione é perfetta, giocata sulla diagonale delle case che "taglia" la scena.
Un caro saluto
Giorgio

Kielia (20477) 2012-10-23 8:35

Dear Gert,
I remember the previous post very well. Here you have caught the essence of the place, the gentle colors and the light – there is a certain mood that it is hard to describe. The photographer’s perspective is excellent. My compliments also for the notes!
Warm regards
Harriet

pajaran (36282) 2012-10-23 8:48

Dobro vece.
Vrlo interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lep pogled ...
Dobra ostrina i kontrast, lepe boje.
Dobra kompozicija, lepo pokazano.
Lepa arhitektura.
Prijatno vece i sve najbolje.
Paja.

Good evening.
Very interesting and good text ...
Nice view ...
Good sharpness and contrast, beautiful color.
Good composition, nice revealed.
Beautiful architecture.
Good evening and all the best.
Paja.

mesutilgim (68036) 2012-10-23 9:05

Hello dear Gert,
This one is far better than your entry of 10.10.!
Here I can see those rock graves, where I had a wonderfull sleep in August night almost 48 years ago !
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

tyro (13149) 2012-10-23 9:07

Hello Gert,

Another fine trio of photographs from Amasya which, incidentally, I have again compared with your 1971 photograph which you posted as a workshop to your last picture from here. And, of course, you have again provided us with an interesting and informative note. How much I learn about the World from TE and from interesting and instructive notes and photographs such as yours!

This is a perfectly composed photograph in which the little red flag atop the mountain plays no small part - in fact, it immediately catches the eye before we look down the mountainside to see the fine row of terraced houses along the river's waterfront.

Lovely light, lovely colours, perfect exposure and exquisite details and sharpness.

Your additional two photographs put this whole place in perspective and let us see, to use a modern colloquial term, the "bigger picture".

Beautiful!

Kind Regards,

John.

bayno (16241) 2012-10-23 9:13

Ciao Gert,
I really like this your shot, the place is really suggestive, you have chosen an excellent POV to show us and have created a delightful perspective, very beautiful architecture of the buildings on the river, but the amazing thing is the old fort in BG, very beautiful colors and excellent sharp and deep, the framing is D.O.C.
Wonderful...
greetings from Rome,
Valter

dkmurphys (36857) 2012-10-23 10:45

Hi Gert,
Lovely place. I like the POV, a superb capture of that interesting old town. Well seen, have a nice evening.

Daniel

mkamionka (24583) 2012-10-23 13:55

Hi Gert,
this wonderful place seems familiar already indeed.
I like the unique style and the fantastic location between the high mountain and the river. The mountain seems to push the houses over the bank of the river...
Beautiful view,
M

saxo042 (31802) 2012-10-23 14:21

Hej Gert,
Jag roade mig med att klicka på översta raden och se på alla bilder från Amasya. Den här husraden, och berget bakom, finns med på merparten av bilderna, men just denna bild är helt klart den bästa (och den har ju redan gett större avkastning). Lite ovanligt med en bild utan folk i, men som sagt, en bra bild och en mycket intressant note. Bilderna från "arbetsaffären" är ju också synnerligen intressanta.
Hälsningar
Gunnar

Tigerlily (2343) 2012-10-23 14:47

Beautifully captured image, Gert. The colour is very nice.. I'm used to see your scaned film ones... automatically, I thought what the film one would be like...
When I was in Beijing, I heard one of the young woman who was from Shan xi provice (about over 500KM southwest from Beijing) told me that her family was living in a kind of man made cave.. she said it's better than house, warm in winter and cool in summer.. I guess that these houses are like that as well...

siamesa (27449) 2012-10-23 15:35

Boa noite Gert

Fantastic view of these houses . Very interesting note.I really love your photos that bring the history of these places.
Abraços
maria

ACL1978 (5793) 2012-10-23 17:15

I like this angle on Amasya a lot, Gert - including the full peak behind the town is a nice touch, and really shows the precarious nature of the buildings along the river - cliff to one side, water to the other! Fascinating note giving us some of the history of this place.

Andrew

npecanhuk (53919) 2012-10-23 17:30

Hello Gert!
Impressive place!
Interesting and attractive picture!
Sharpness, exposure, colors, chosen pov, vertical format and composition really pleased me!
TFS - congrats,
Cheers,
Neyvan

fabbs99 (5533) 2012-10-23 19:17

Hello Gert,

Its nice to see you back on TE on regular basis.The rocky hill top with some really cute looking houses dotting the middle of the frame and the canal flowing underneath.Fantastic composition with great exposure, splendid light and wonderful warm colors.TFS.

Best Regards
Farhat

bukitgolfb301 (30111) 2012-10-23 20:41

Hi dear Gert

Great shot for tasetful and onderful historical houses in the nice location. So wonderful and also fantastic image in the perfect framework indeed. Sharp and clear presentation strentgens this nice image. Thanks for your sharing and have a good day!

Takero from Tokyo

macjake (39235) 2012-10-24 1:15

Hi Gert
excellent work in showing us the 2 WS photo's.
that was fun :)
for sure it is much more densely populated now than before.
this is an interesting view too.
what on earth are the 2 arched doorways built into the cliff wall? see them? about exactly half way up the frame. is that a cave entrance or something?
a great trio of shots.
cheers
craig

wolf38 (28226) 2012-10-24 3:12

Hello Gert. Behind are steep mountains, the water directly ahead. An interesting house building on the waterfront. The text says more about this area and the residents. Overall, a good and instructive contribution to TE.
Rgds, Wolfgang.

agjika (4015) 2012-10-24 5:18

Hi Gert,
For a split second I thought this was a photo from Berat! This is more dramatic I admit but I do like the architecture!

I looks like the row of houses goes on forever. Great and classi composition and sharpness.

Regards

Aleks

Nicou (97811) 2012-10-24 5:46

Hello

Quel cadrage et compo sueprbe iamge ces plan d'aue avec le mure le maison et la perspective et cette montagne une mervielle sueprbe.

Bravo et amitié

Nicou

Highmountains (1834) 2012-10-24 7:51

The houses lining the river - some with supported overhangs, have been taken with clarity and detail. There is not much variation in colour but the symmetery in design is beautiful. The river with a thin strip of green on the banks forms a very scenic foreground of the photograph. The water, the green strip, the brown wall of the banking and the buildings form a series of almost horizontal layers before we turn our vision to the rocky hillock. There is a pathway that leads to the top, some of which is visible in the photograph, and then the red flag...
The composition does have a simple rhythm. It is this detailed simplicity that gives the picture its beauty.
Thanks for sharing, Gert.

Fis2 (73146) 2012-10-24 8:12

Witaj Gert!
Beautiful mountain, a very curious houses.
I like frame and colors.
Wonderful place.
Well done.
Have a nice evening
Krzysztof

eldancer1 (17106) 2012-10-24 13:17

I like your pov of this city, and indeed 41 years is a long time with people and places do changed. When I graduated from high school in old hometown in the Philippines the total student population of my high school was 120 students, when I visited in 2007 there were over 4,000 students. Nice catch of the hill behind the houses. Good lighting and dof with nice details. Well done, tfs.

Sonata11 (28391) 2012-10-24 14:07

Hello Gert,
Very, very interesting note about Amasya and very interesting architecture. Gert you presented this original place an amazingly beautiful. This is striking beautiful photo. Wonderfully executed. Perfectly well done and well seen. Outstanding photo work. I love it. Thank you for beautiful picture and informative note.
Warm regards,
Barbara

emka (58224) 2012-10-24 23:46

Hi Gert, Fantastic series from Amasya. I like most your old photo fro m 1971, incredible quality! The view on the other photo from WS with big blocks has lost much of its charm. Wonderful houses hanging above the river. Fantastic place, not known. Thanks for sharing.

Warm regrads

Malgo

marabu61 (3952) 2012-10-25 7:24

Hej Gert
Amazing architecture of those houses overhanging the river. This looks like a charming place to visit. Imposing mountain as a backdrop with the red flag on top just adding a nice focal point.
have a nice evening
Daniel

mohammad_H (6600) 2012-10-26 1:06

Hi
Beautiful house, near the river, and the rocks
The angle is very good, the scenery, and in the blue sky
Resolution, contrast and sharpness is good
Have a nice day

kordinator (13411) 2012-10-26 3:35

Hello Gert
Another great work from your trip to Turkey.
Excellent informative text accompanied fantastic photos.
A great diagonal shot.
Beautiful colors and excellent sharpness.
Perfect job.
Kind regards
Saša

serp2000 (29242) 2012-10-29 8:51

Hej, Gert,
I remember if your windows look to the water in Stockholm, so your flat is more expensive. The water is a good relax for people. Attractive scene, impressive landscape. Thanks!
Best wishes,
Serghei

ayferaldanmaz (952) 2012-10-30 10:15

hi Gert,
this one is an excellent observational image with the riverside and the high rock formations and the flag on top of all. with wonderful clear sky also. another great shot from Amasya, congrats and tfs.
have a lovely week,
cheers,
ayfer

ourania (12469) 2012-11-03 13:14

Hello Gert,
I like very much the view, the perspective and the light management in this picture. The textures of the stonework and the rock look very attractive, the colours are lovely and the white buildings seem to shine. The architecture is wonderful and it must be lovely sitting by one of these windows enjoying the view and the sunlight. Your workshop pictures are great, very well composed and clear invite us to a fascinating study and comparison. Congratulations and thank you!
All the best, have a great evening,
Ourania

HimalAnda (5632) 2012-11-04 9:34

Hello Gert,

That's a nice place: these houses just above the river and the mountain in the background.

Stéphane

delpeoples (45018) 2012-11-05 1:11

Hello dear Gert

If you had made me guess which country this was without looking at your note, I'd have said somewhere Alpine or nordic. So it's with surprise and pleasure that I see it is Turkey. Excellent vertical frame, wonderful architectural details and impressive, Monet-esque reflections. Beautiful shot, thanks for sharing.

Warm regards
Lisa

Angshu (51174) 2012-11-06 7:23

Hello Gert
Houses hanging over the river with the monolithic hill in the BG...what a picturesque setting! Yes, I agree that the houses look pretty new, but looks authentic in design. There is some part of fortification visible...is it a remnant of a fort? Not an usual picture from you, without human interest, but a fine picture showing us this heritage site (not known to me)
Best Regards
Angshu

zanzi (12608) 2012-12-08 13:06

Bonsoir Gert
This seems to be a great traditional village.
The buildings and the sky are awesome.
bravo
Chris