Fragment : Icons from Antiquity

For this remarkable collection, photographer Anna-Maryke journeyed to the magnificent archeological sites of Egypt, Turkey and Iran and captured images filled with an intense serenity and intimacy. Through her unique and personal view we are able to share the immensity and solitude, the astonishment and the sheer romance that permeate these places. The contemporary eye marvels at the majesty and power of the ruinsÆ imposing remains. Eroded sculptures, fallen columns resting on the ground like monstrous skeletons, and streets once glistening marble now sprouting weeds through cracks in the pavement remind us of the ineluctable passing of time. Bas-reliefs illustrating the lives of long-dead pharaohs, high priests, merchants and other citizens point out that civilizations once thrived here long before our own lives began. Pedestals stripped of sculpture and immense stone tablets propped against walls seem to say that we too will leave our remnants to be contemplated by future generations. Anna-MarykeÆs photographs do not serve merely to bring us face-to-face with stone; rather, they reveal the long-obscured souls of the ancients. The treasures of these buried worlds have been re-excavated this time not with shovels, but with a skillful and nostalgic lens.