The Land of the Anka Bird

From the oasis cities of Central Asia to the frozen wastes of eastern Siberia, the photographs of Ergun Çağatay reflect the immensity and drama of the Turkic-speaking world and the vivid lives, beliefs and spirit of its peoples. Caroline Eden pays tribute to a pioneering photographer who travelled more than 100,000 miles to capture these images.

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‘The Land of the Anka Bird: A journey through the Turkic heartland’ is a reflective visual essay introducing the powerful images of the pioneering Turkish journalist-turned-photographer Ergun Çağatay. The book explores the cultural landscape and geography of the vast Turkic-speaking lands, from the mercantile cities of Uzbekistan to little-explored pockets of the Baltic and European Russia and the steppelands of Kazakhstan and Mongolia. It is clear that while divided by distance, the diverse Turkic peoples share far more than a linguistic heritage. Deep cultural connections highlight great mobility across many landscapes and centuries. Spanning both the nomadic and settled worlds, this book challenges assumptions about an intriguing swathe of our planet while celebrating its wildly varied traditions and environment.