Turkey in Pictures – through the eyes of Kim Hewett
Almost as soon as Kim set foot on Turkish soil he started taking photos, and he’s been doing so ever since. On his very first trip to Göreme in central Turkey he took more than 200 photos in a week. In these days of digital that might not seem a lot, but back then everything was analog. Before he pressed the button to capture Turkey in pictures, each shot was fully thought out and carefully composed well before clicking the button. A roll of 36 exposures was quite pricey and you also had to pay to get the photos developed. Unlike now you didn’t take dozens of shots in the hopes one of them would turn out.
Kim Hewett and I met in Newtown, a suburb in Sydney, Australia where we both lived for many years. We danced around each other for a long time but both of us had significant others and the timing was never right. However a few weeks after I returned from my first trip to Europe and Turkey in 1990 we met up again at a mutual friend’s birthday bash and the rest as they say, is history. Of the many passions we share, travel is a major one so in 1996 we set off on a six month trip around Europe, including six weeks in Turkey.
From that moment on, wherever we went in Turkey over the following years, Kim’s heavy metal bodied 35mm film camera came with us, as well as a weighty zoom lens. A lot of our trips, particularly to the east of Turkey took place before Facebook was a big thing and Instagram didn’t exist. All our prior knowledge came from reading guidebooks and word of mouth. Kim didn’t know what to expect and made decisions as to what to photograph in the moment. I think it lends his take on Turkey in pictures a fresh and timeless feeling.
Although his analog camera was later replaced by a series of digital cameras of varying qualities, Kim’s passion and photographic abilities remained the same. This was recognised by PhotoWorld Fotoğraf Merkezi in 2011 who invited him to come and talk about his Turkey in pictures. The audience was fascinated to see how a foreigner viewed their country, and his presentation was featured in local media.
Turkey in Pictures presentation
I’m happy to say Kim has given me permission to share an updated version of his original presentation. I hope you like it. Let me know what you think by leaving a note in the comments section or by getting in touch with me via the contact page.
I wish you “Iyi yolculuklar” as you travel through Turkey with “Images of Turkey” taken by Kim Hewett. You can find out how we eventually came to call Turkey home in my memoir, Istanbul Dreams: Waiting for the Tulips to Bloom.
Thank you for taking me down memory lane. I’ve been visiting Türkiye, from Australia since 1994, and over so many holidays you have just reminded me, by this video, how much I have seen and yet how much far East I still have to visit yet. It was nice to see Lake Egirdir in the mix, it seems to be a place overlooked these days. You had beautiful photos of Mardin – I wish I’d taken more. Gazientep is hoped to be my ‘eye feast’ for photos this coming October 2024.
Thank you so much Kim and Lisa.
amazing!
They are, aren’t they? Kim is very talented.
Very nice photos and impressive music behind. Thank you for your interest for the publicity of my country, these records are very valuable:)
My husband was happy to hear you liked the photos. We both love Turkey and try to promote it as much as we can. Please feel free to share this post on your social media accounts.
Picturesque and beautiful shots there! Very enticing to read with nice array of photos!
Hi Mark, Thank you for your comment. We’re very pleased you enjoyed the post. If you don’t want to miss out on my next post make sure you subscribe to my blog (it’s free). Just enter your email address in the subscription field on the right hand side of the page. Lisa
Congratulations, you crowned it with perfect photos that started off with a great idea.
Thank you, I’m so glad you like it. Please feel free to share it too.
Great photos, thank you for sharing. I definitely want to travel more around Turkey and see its beautiful places. My list is getting longer.
Thank you for your appreciation. The longer I live here the longer my list gets!
Beautiful photos
Thank you Sonaycigim. Kim is very talented.
Beautiful Lisa and Kim, thank you for sharing. I really love the goats in front of the wedding dresses. The two boys in black trousers and waistcoats, where are they, what are they please? They remind of German Zimmermaenner (carpenters) but they would be too young for that and need a hat. I am intrigued.
The two boys were dressed in traditional costume to perform the Black Sea Zeybek dance. We took the photo in Faith years ago. I love the goat photo too, great sales technique! Pleased you liked the show.
Wonderful presentation and it evoked many memories of Istanbul and other cities and towns in Turkey. We toured extensively on our four or five trips to Turkey which we fell in love with many years ago. Istanbul is still a favourite city-break for me. Thank you for being so generous with the images.
It is our pleasure to share them. A lot of people only see Istanbul or one of the many beautiful beach resorts on the coast but as you probably know, Turkey has so much more to offer. I hope that when conditions allow, you and others will come back and discover more.
Many thanks to you and Kim for sharing. So many memories for me – living and working in Istanbul in the late 80’s/early 90’s and whizzing around the country by bus in those times…….then returning to NZ to find a Turk here and continue to visit and explore with our two daughters over the last 20 years also. We miss it, and are planning our return!!
Long distance bus trips were always great, if tiring. We met so many nice people, saw amazing scenery and got a glimpse into Turkey you don’t get if you travel by plane. I hope you get back soon!
Wow, so many memories reawakened. I have hopes of coming in late October for a few weeks. Looking forward to meeting you. I have a great story about meeting the military on the way to visit Egirdir Lake. Not what you would think.
Your story re the military sounds intriguing. We met a lot of Gendarme in our travels. They were always polite but had a lot of trouble believing my Turkish looking husband (his mother was Italian) with the strange name (who) was really the Australian he said he was! I hope we get to meet in October. Fingers crossed.
Thank you for taking me down memory lane. I’ve been visiting, from Australia, since 1994 and over many holidays you reminded by this video how much I have seen and yet how much far East I still have to visit. It was nice to see Lake Egirdir in the mix, it seems to be a place overlooked these days. You had beautiful photos of Mardin, I wish I’d taken more. Gazientep is hoped to be my eye feast for photos this coming October 2024.
Thank you so much Kim and Lisa.
I’m glad you enjoyed Kim’s photos. Gaziantep is great, I’ve been there twice. Do check out my post for ideas of what to see and do, and where to eat!
Wonderful. Just the sort of pictures which we like to take and then use in our talks back here in the UK. My husband always says that his pictures have a caption befor he presses the shutter!!
So looking forward to returning, hopefully next year as things are going.
So glad you liked them. Most of what I learned about taking pics I learned from Kim. Now however, with my social media platform to supply I’m rather like your husband. I do hope you get back here in 2022, or even earlier.
Most probably 2022 as we now have commitments for the rest of this year. So looking forward to meeting you.
Hope your commitments are good/enjoyable/rewarding. I’m looking forward to meeting you too so roll on 2022. So to speak.
Thanks for sharing. Beautiful photos of my beloved country. Music is very well chosen. Congratulations. Come back ♥️
Thank you Seçkin. I haven’t left Turkey, I live here, in Istanbul. If you subscribe to my blog (it’s free) you can learn about life in the city through my eyes.
Are you related to Dave Wieting by any chance?
Beautiful!
Thank you!
My heartfelt congratulations for the beautiful photos. Thank you for sharing them.
It’s my pleasure. My husband is very talented but very modest about it. I’m glad people like his vision of Turkey.
What a great idea (which obviously I am going to steal). Trouble is your pictures are far more spectacular than mine. Love the music, too. First class.
Glad you like it. Kim is very talented.
Wonderful! Thank you. Missing Turkey due to Covid so a trip down memory lane.
I’m pleased you enjoyed it. Even though I live in Istanbul I’m missing Turkey too – I had so many trips planned for the past year. Hopefully you’ll get back over here soon.
Wow! Thank you for sharing your beautiful photographs with us, Kim Hewett! I really enjoyed them. I hope we will be able to travel to Turkey again next year.
He’s really pleased to hear you liked them and we both hope you can get back to Turkey soon.