ISTANBUL.- Galeri 77 inaugurates the new art season with Istanbul-based photographer Erhan Coral’s solo exhibition “Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere.” Concurrently featured as part of the parallel events of both the 18th Istanbul Biennial and the 212 Photography Festival, the exhibition invites viewers on a profound journey through Mongolia’s desolate black-and-white landscapes, in pursuit of silence and the absurd. This photographic journey, undertaken across Mongolia’s remote steppes, deserts, and mountainous regions, places the concept of “nowhere” at its very core. Within Coral’s frame, a lone hut, a scrap car, or a child’s game without an audience transforms into a visual poem enveloped by infinite silence. Finding his artistic expression not so much in the spectacle as in the intervals of silence, Coral reveals not only the geography itself but also the peculiar imprints of isolation, longing, and human traces. Offering a deep and unsettling perspective on contemporary solitude, the exhibition will be on view at Galeri 77’s Karaköy space from September 4 to October 11.
Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere is a photographic exploration of the Mongolian steppe — a landscape so vast it dwarfs the human scale, and so silent it slows perception. Set against this emptiness, isolated objects, forgotten structures, ambiguous signs, and solitary gestures appear not as focal points, but as quiet questions hovering within the frame.
While the photographs are grounded in documentary observation, they resonate with deeper conceptual and aesthetic layers. A “Coffee Shop” sign planted in the middle of nowhere, a sports field without an audience, a dead-end road leading nowhere — each image blends irony with contemplation. They are both real and absurd, familiar and entirely misplaced.
This geography seems to both accept and disregard human presence. Emptiness here is not a void, but a presence in its own right. Human interventions appear trivial beside the scale of the land, yet they catch the eye through their quiet absurdity. These photographs aim to document that tension — the friction between the vast and the small, the serious and the surreal.
Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere is more than a visual series; it is an emotional and philosophical space where the viewer is invited to reflect. The isolated elements scattered throughout the frames serve as metaphors for modern existence — for the way we mark territory, seek meaning, and leave traces behind. An abandoned car becomes a symbol not of escape, but of waiting. An unused volleyball net reflects the absence of community. And in standing before these images, the viewer becomes aware of their own solitude.
This series is a quiet homage to the beauty of being lost, the aesthetics of aimlessness, and the humor embedded in stillness. It offers, in the heart of nowhere, a place to pause — and perhaps, to see something more clearly.
