The border between the (southern) Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus consists of a bewildering variety of formal and informal barricades. In some spots the frontier is thick with military personnel kept at arm's length by UN peacekeepers who patrol the so-called green line between the two; in others the boundary is little more than pieces of corrugated metal stacked just high enough to prevent people on either side from seeing what is happening on the other. As with most sensitive border areas of the world, photography is forbidden. Which makes capturing its essence on film just that much more challenging...

View of the flag of Turkey (left) and that of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (right) through the window of a bunker behind barbed wire.

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A sign I would grow quite familiar with (and one that appears in nearly every one of the photographs to follow!). It was always interesting to pick random streets near the border and walk until the road had been blocked off. Tourists can often get by feigning ignorance while nonchalantly strolling in sensitive areas, something I took extensive advantage of in Cyprus. As part of my cultivation of the clueless tourist look, I always make sure I have the biggest camera dangling from my shoulder for everyone to see. This not only looks ridiculous in off limits areas, but it has the added advantage of a good camera being at the ready if I find an instant where I think I can snap a picture without anyone noticing.

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Classic example of a dead end street in the capital city of Lefkosa, known as Nicosia to the Greeks and the rest of the world. Here an iron gate splits the Turkish part of the city from its Greek half. Minarets & mosques dominate the Turkish sector behind me while Christian churches (like this spire topped by a cross visible on the other side of the fence) are a feature of the Greek Cypriot skyline.

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In a scene that caught me by complete surprise, a basketball net is set up literally just a couple of feet from the border fence (note the ubiquitous red "forbidden zone" sign on the wall behind the backboard to the right!). I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if a player shot an air ball and it bounced over the fence by mistake...

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One of my favorite pictures from this trip for the into-the-unknown mood it conveys. In this part of the divided capital city, the border between North & South is marked by the corrugated iron sheets in front of me (note the omnipresent red forbidden zone sign along the left edge of the photo). Even though I am clearly walking, my feet are much close together than they should be, indicating the slowness of my movement. The quick furtive glance to the right reminds me of the fact that I had no idea what to expect once I got to the edge of that wall and could see what was around the corner to the right...

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UN, Greek, and Turkish soldiers patrol in close and uneasy proximity along this stretch of the border. Here the flags of Turkey & North Cyprus are visible in the foreground to the right. The buildings in the background are in South Cyprus; including the one adorned with the blue & white painting showing the island as an undivided whole with the Greek flag above it. This mural faces the guards in the North.

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I stumbled upon this guard not far from where the above photo was taken. I hid myself behind a large trash container, snapped a 200mm zoom lens on my camera, and leaned out just enough to take this photograph. I loved the image, this solitary soldier peering into Turkish-occupied Cyprus with the Greek & South Cyprus flags fluttering behind him. My pride in setting up a nice photograph didn't last long however, for immediately after snapping this shot I was loudly scolded and barked at. I suspect that only the fact that he and I were on separate sides of the dividing line prevented him from going after me. I made a hasty retreat, playing the stupid tourist card to its fullest potential.

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A figurative end of the road. At the only land crossing between North & South Cyprus, this photo was taken just beyond the North Cyprus border in the UN-monitored buffer zone. Here the boundary between the two is marked by a seemingly endless row of trash cans. This photo was snapped just seconds before my being yelled at my a UN guard (something I was getting far too used to at this point!).

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Still in the UN buffer zone, facing the South Cyprus border. Thick coiled barbed wire lines the sides of this road. The UN headquarters building is just visible along the right edge of this picture. The blue & white striped buildings in front of me mark the Greek Cypriot border post. Not seen in this photo is the startled expression of the two Greek guards who practically fell out of their chairs when I approached from behind them. One shouted "Did you just come from the occupied territory?" in a most unwelcoming tone. That was my first indication that I was in an area I had no business being in, so I turned around and scurried back to the north before the Greek soldiers could get too close to me. As "luck" would have it, the young UN soldier from England who let me walk past him to this spot had just been assigned to this border post only the day before and did not yet know that he wasn't supposed to let outsiders pass. His supervisor chewed him out in full view of me.

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I have no idea what this sign says, but the fact that it depicts an arm dripping in blood near the border made it haunting enough.

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One of the strangest political & geographic oddities in the world. The lovely beachside city of Famagusta spans the horizon near the North/South Cyprus border at the far eastern edge of the island. But appearance is definitely deceiving here; a quick scan through binoculars shows that this city is completely empty of people. Greek by heritage but falling on the side of the border controlled by Turkey through the happenstance of war, the city exists in a virtual time warp. It makes for a convincing propaganda piece for the North; Turkey has indicated that it has no interest in acquiring territory that has not been traditionally populated by Turks and has offered to return it to the south intact should the two sides ever reach a peace agreement. For now it remains bolted shut and closed to outsiders. It is said that even banks (with doors welded shut) still contain the unclaimed deposits of their former Greek customers.