We’d been dreaming since December of ’70s supermodels roaming through ruins with big hair, big jewels and even bigger attitudes. We couldn’t stop thinking about Diana Ross in the 1975 film Mahogany, or the sophisticated world travellers who strode down the Saint Laurent, Pucci and Ferragamo spring runways. It all led to a transatlantic travel itch, and Turkey proved to be our fashion fantasy come true.
Photography by Peter Tamlin
Photography by Peter Tamlin
As the plane descended over Istanbul, we drank in the sight of boats and barges dotting the coastline, turmeric-coloured buildings, and mosques topped with ornate domes. Soon our mini-caravan packed with six people, 13 suitcases, 38 pairs of shoes, three blonde wigs, 12 enormous hats and two sets of fingernails made its way south to the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.
Spectacular ruins overlook Kekova.
No glamorous shoot is spared a few hiccups. A show-stopping Tom Ford dress is held hostage at another shoot in New York until after we’re scheduled to leave. We quickly arrange for it to be delivered to our New York–based model, Olga Maliouk, who shepherds it onto the plane.
Fashion director Susie Sheffman with the waylaid Tom Ford dress.
We don’t believe in packing light.
Makeup artist Greg Wencel and Olga know that blondes have more fun
Up at 6:30 a.m., we hit the road for the three-hour trip to the island of Kekova. Tree-covered peaks loom alongside the coastal road, and billy goats roam lazily on the hills. When we get to the harbour, we find a captain who agrees to take us out onto the water in a wooden gulet boat.
Our guide, Nihat Bulut, with Olga.
We crash through the choppy waves, falling over each other as the wind rips at Olga’s fake lashes. Our captain obligingly turns the boat around again and again so we get a clear shot of the turquoise waters.
It was a little windy.
Carved out of the mountain’s face in the fourth century bc, the awe-inspiring rock tombs of Myra were built to mimic the homes of the living.
The incredible rock tombs of Myra.
While the scenery is stunning, Olga quickly becomes the main attraction. Draped atop a giant boulder, in a Tom Ford dress, like a proud lion at the zoo, she draws a curious crowd of milling tourists. We can’t quite capture the scale of the graves, though, so we end up reshooting the look two days later.
Our model becomes a star tourist attraction.
With the help of our guide, Nihat Bulut, an archaelogist, we breeze past gates, ropes and guards to set up on centuries-old ruins.
Striking a pose.
Each one outdoes the last: the seaside Temple of Apollo, the Aspendos Theatre and the spectacular columned street in Perge.
Our model, Olga Maliouk, soaks up some sunshine at the Aspendos Theatre.
Our van isn’t allowed past the parking lots, so at each spot we do a makeup touch-up, then load up bags with clothes, camera equipment, clamps and tape, and startle unsuspecting tour groups as we haul them along the pebbled paths.
The van becomes an impromptu makeup station
When we’re finished shooting in Antalya, we make our way back to Istanbul. The Grand Bazaar is a feast for the eyes—and the stomach. Countless stalls are filled with jewellery, lanterns, fruit teas and conical sculptures of vivid spices. We can’t resist buying boxes of fresh Turkish delight filled with nuts.
The bazaar offers every imaginable kind of Turkish delight.
We cool off at Cemberlitas Hamami, an ancient Turkish bath, where we strip down, lie on heated marble blocks in a big steamy room and allow ourselves to be scrubbed and massaged into sublime relaxation.
Istanbul’s bustling grand bazaar.
Special thanks to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Turkey, Turkish Office of Culture and Tourism, New York, Turkish Airlines, Odeon Tours, Pamfilya Tourism Inc., M. Silver Associates and Nihat Bulut.
See the full photo shoot in the 2011 Summer Issue of FASHION Magazine.
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Photography by Peter Tamlin
