Nelly Josephine Atamuratova is a young artist living in The Republic of Moldova; she was my student when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer. Nelly has recently branched out from painting and drawing into photography. She sends me emails of images from Moldova, Romania, and Turkey and I edit them for her in Photoshop. It’s a creative and collaborative way for us to share our art and our lives across the continents.
[Istanbul, Turkey – 2010 – © Nelly Atamuratova]
Hello Melly,
Wow! You made it look amazing. It is not the Haia Sophia, but it is not far from Haia Sophia; actually you would be amazed – this is children’s prison. It sounds scary but it’s true, Turkish kids, who don’t have a family and are troubled are brought to this prison for re-education. It is not a big building. It is situated vis-a-vis a place with many beautiful stores – many who sell traditional Turkish carpets and rugs. When l saw it, I thought it was a museum because you know l love old buildings. I adore old fashioned doors and windows – I find that they are hiding history and always seem to me to be so sad and mysterious. Standing there, I could believe that ghosts live in this beautiful building. You can you imagine my surprise when my Mom’s friend explained that it is a prison, but not a simple one but rather one for children??? Well l liked it even more then. It was, let’s say, my small discovery in Istanbul.