anna ruch photography

Istanbul, March 2011.

I joined my friend on her morning jog from Taksim to the Old City early one morning in Istanbul. I was anxious to watch the city rise and catch the fisherman on Galata bridge at the beginning of their day.  There was a gentle hum of conversation and laughter as they turned to glance over their shoulder at the strange blond foreigner shooting photos of them – they seemed amused by this seemingly misplaced interest in their fishing routine.  But the scene they set was beautiful – their cluster of fishing poles jutting up over the Bosporus, swaying gracefully in a rhythmic and mesmerizing pattern as minarets cast the perfect backdrop for their setting.

Everything and everyone must have a beginning.  Mine looked a lot like this – cornfields that stretch beyond sight, and beauty in the simplest of landscapes.  This is the view looking out from my grandparent’s driveway in my small hometown of Lanark, Illinois.

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