Darwin spent a day at Kilyos on the Black Sea and shot the series with a Konica Auto S3 and a self-made pinhole camera.
We’re sitting in the middle of the city district Cinhangır on a balcony with a view of the Bosporus. Under the midday sun, we decide to go to the shore. Leaving Taksim, we take the metro and a bus one and a half hours until we have arrived in Kilyos’ city centre. We climb a hill. At the highest point, we are greeted by an overwhelming view of the sea. We remain there, breathe in the air while looking out at the open space, towards the horizon. Down the hill, on a freshly-paved street on the way to the beach, we see some advertisements that indicate different beach premises. Almost at the shore, we see the first private beach through the mesh of a high fence. The entrance fee is between twenty and sixty Liras. Paying to go to the beach? Don’t we have a right to public space here? We walk farther, past further private beaches and after 45 minutes we sit down at a free space that hasn’t yet been built upon. A dog accompanies us and spends the entire day at our side. We find many objects lying around. Rubbish, shoes, the frame of a sun umbrella. Stranded, forgotten, or left behind?
I get a sense of freedom when I am at the beach. I feel the need to start running and do cartwheels, to feel the sea salt on my skin. I ask myself why beaches have to become private beach clubs. Does one need more than simply laying in the sand and going swimming? Of course, a legitimate reason for the privatisation is that the waves in the Black Sea at Kylos are very dangerous and a lifeguard could be necessary. Still, the building craze at this place saddens me.
On the way home, we meet a group of young men who have building stairs since our arrival,
and would occasionally stop to survey their work.
