Well, its been a very strange couple of months.  Corona virus is world wide, which means we haven’t been allowed out much.  In Cyprus the lockdown came early in March, with all businesses closing except supermarkets and chemists.  Other essential services like internet and so on had one designated shop open per town. An evening curfew has been in place too. It is nearing the end of April now and there is a new restriction on going out without a mask but there is talk of shops partially reopening in the middle of May but nothing is certain.  Figures for North Cyprus are pretty low, but this is in part because of the lockdown.  The border to Southern Cyprus is shut, and the south has 10 times the cases we do.  In terms of photos there are not many for March and April.

There has been all sorts of positive activity though, with friends in England doing live gigs from the front rooms, or talk shows, or pub quiz nights, or murder mystery nights and everything in between.  I have talked to more people on video chat than ever before.  It has been a bit lonely though.

In the beginning of March I met up with my school friends in Lefkosa.  The school was going through some changes with staff and venue, so I went to visit the new site and catch up with everyone there.  Little did I know they would be the last people I photographed for a couple of months, except for myself.  Beyond that there have been some shots of sky and sea and stars, flowers and some long exposures with a new ND filter.

I have actually loaded quite a few event nights from 2010 to 2012 onto my website but I’ll deal with those in other posts.  Enjoy.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© This is my fellow English teacher who has always been a great help to me.  She is moving on soon to do translation at a university.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© This is one of the admin girls who will soon be married, despite being the youngest of the group. I don't know her that well but she is a bright and positive person and I hope all this virus stuff does not effect her wedding plans.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© This lady has been running the school admin but is soon moving on to an internship as part of her university course.  Great girl that loves a photo.  I used to teach her brother English, he was one of the more dedicated students and it has helped him get a job.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© These are my close friends that own and run the school.  Although our lessons are over now, we saw each other every day for months.  We still hang out now and then and they have introduced me to some great people.  They are both mothers and the very best of friends.  Look forward to seeing them soon hopefully.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© This is the unsung hero of the school, she cleans, she cooks, and mothers everyone.  I suprised her one day when she was cleaning on her own and she seemed a bit put out that I caught her with her hair down.  The head scalf was quickly back on.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© These guys wanted a few photos on their own as they are all soon to be seperated.  I include outakes.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© And finally a few group shots.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© This is the new school entrance.  I love the original Cypriot tiles.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© These two shots are just tests for my new ND filter (it allows long expose in bright sunlight).  You can see that the water is moving.

Rain on the horizon.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Thes are of the stars.  The one just above shows the clouds moving.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Pretty clouds.  Soon with summer kicking in there will be not a cloud in the sky for months, so its nice to see some now.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© This is the hotel to the left of my balcony and the Police doing a night sweep for people.  The hotel is shut but it keeps its lights on.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© This is a shot of the north star and "the frying pan"(turkish name) that helps you find it.  The north sar is middle right at the bottom of the picture.  The frying pan rectangle is middle left with the handle extending up to the edge of the photo.  You can look it up as the great bear, Ursula Major, or The Big Dipper. The end two star allways point at the north star.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Photos by Sin Bozkurt© Poppies on the seafront.  They are usually mowed down by now when the council do a clean up, but thankfully this year its not a priority.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© This military ship from Turkey parks itself now and then North of the harbour and sits for a few days before moving on.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© And finally a really nice sky.  The sun has just crept round to my line of sight from the balcony and will remain till the end of summer.  After that is will disappear behind the flat for the rest of the year.

Photos by Sin Bozkurt© And Finally a self portrait, using three lights, two with coloured gels.

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