İBRAHİM KARAKÜTÜK - THE CAVE OF THE STARVING LION

'The Cave of the Starving Lion' is a dark sanctuary — a place where one comes face to face with the insatiable, restless forces that live within. This series does not depict escape, but rather a threshold: the moment we summon the courage to confront the chaos we carry inside. It is a space where desire, fear, and unchecked impulses intertwine — simultaneously confining and transforming us.

As Nietzsche warned, “He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster.” These photographs trace the shifting shapes we assume in that struggle — how, in wrestling with our inner beasts, we sometimes take on their very form. Photography here becomes both battleground and archive. Cracked textures, fading lines, and stretched surfaces map internal wounds, while also hinting at the quiet yearning for healing.

'The Cave of the Starving Lion' is a site of confession and reckoning. It reminds us that in order to move through the world without causing harm, we must first confront the hunger and darkness within ourselves. In this series, photography acts as both witness and companion — quietly affirming that as we face our shadows, we are not alone.