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Work ⟩1970s ⟩Hagia Sophia, Istanbul 1977

About the Work

This was my first attempt at a photographic mosaic. The previous year I had been to Russia, which may have influenced me in realising this piece. Hagia Sophia was built in the sixth century and was the principal building of the western world and Byzantium for a thousand years. Byzantine culture and outlook were a seminal influence in the development of the Russian state. I attempted to photograph the whole of the interior of the building in its complexity. I used a 35mm camera with a telephoto lens on a tripod and took one photograph at a time. The camera was set in the centre of the church, directly underneath the dome, and swept through 360 degrees. The bottom part of the piece is arranged pictorially, the top schematically. The cheap gilt frames are similar to those on sale in the former Soviet Union's souvenir stores as well as in Istanbul. These, however, were purchased from a Woolworth's supplier in England.