Wednesday, 26 December, 2007
Clay Storage Vessels, Museum of Anatolian Civilizations
The museum did not allow flash photography inside, and the lighting and glass cases created such glare that photography inside the museum was impossible. These huge clay vessels were displayed on the grounds outside the museum.
The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations was overwhelming with so many artifacts from so many historic periods.
I have an ambivalent attitude towards museums in foreign cities: If I'm by myself, I almost never visit them. If I only have one day or even one afternoon to look around, I prefer walking and looking--just aborbing the atmosphere and character of a place. Museums present me with so much information and detail, I get overwhelmed. It isn't possible to take it all in with a short stroll through the halls, and I only feel inadequate to comprehend the meaning of all the detail. It isn't that I'm not interested, it just that I can't begin to do that much history and detail justice, so I let it for another time.
Yet, I often have hosts that want to show off their museums and introduce me to their history, so they take me to their museums. I'm not really complaining. I always learn something and I do like seeing the exhibits, but it always seems a little weak to spend an hour or two trying to absorb hundreds, even thousands, of years of history. At the end of the tour, I always feel exhausted from information and sensation overload.
Update: John from Megapickles noted that yesterday's image was a bit soft. I forgot to sharpen the final version before uploading it. It has now been sharpened if you want to take a second look.
(Sony A700, iso 400, f/5, 1/400 sec, hand held), Ankara, Turkey, November 8, 2007
Posted By: donnamhughes | Comment (3)
Turkey 2007
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