Ever visited a historical site and wondered about the times gone by, the people who inhabited the site and the darkness that fills the missing figures now?In 35 year-old photographer Guler Ates’ ongoing show, A Trace of the Traceless at The Loft, veiled figures are placed in colonial, post-colonial sites such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, Leighton House Museum and Great Fosters, in the UK. “In my photographs, the figure signifies an absence. For instance, historical traces may exist in architecture, but have become invisible, erased over time. Yet they remain present in the layers of the space — traces of cultural influence,” says Ates.

Guler Ates’ photograph titled Golden Passage