Bodrum used to be an isolated fishing village and penal colony on Turkey’s remote Aegean Coast.  But for the last decade or so it’s been the go-to destination for wealthy Istanbulus, not to mention whole colonies of British and Russian travelers looking for sun, sand and kebaps. Still, its appeal is pretty timeless – azure water, fresh seafood, rows of olive trees stretching along dry hills.  I visited recently and reported back on a unique art-themed hotel for The New York Times’ In Transit blog.

In Bodrum, Turkey, a Hotel for Art and Artists

By Remy Scalza for The New York Times In Transit Blog

This spring, guests at Casa Dell’Arte will have access to a white sand beach, Balinese and deep-tissue massage and workshops with the Pakistani experimental video artist and provocateur Basir Mahmood.

Opened in 2007 by Turkey’s first family of modern art, the Buyukkusoglus, Casa Dell’Arte (casadellartegallery.com) is a 12-suite hotel outside the Aegean beach town of Bodrum that doubles as one of the country’s most important contemporary art galleries.  Hung in hallways and guest rooms inside the airy manor home are hundreds of Turkish masterpieces collectively valued at more than $4 million, including seminal works by Fikret Moualla, regarded as Turkey’s van Gogh.

Click here to read the rest on The New York Times website.

The Calgary Stampede – which takes place every July in the Canadian prairies – is among the most storied events in rodeo: a 10-day competition with millions in prize money up for grabs and a history stretching back more than a century.  It’s also a huge party, which transforms the otherwise mild-mannered city of Calgary, Alberta, into a giant, debauched hoedown.  I checked out the Stampede – and its unique version of cowboy culture – for Canadian Geographic Travel magazine.

Meet Me at the Rodeo

Story and photography by Remy Scalza for Canadian Geographic Travel

The men’s dressing room below the grandstand at the Calgary Stampede feels a little like a hospital waiting room, but not as clean. It’s a Thursday afternoon in July, toward the end of the 10-day rodeo competition, and cowboys wrapped in elastic bandages and ice packs are splayed out on a set of couches, grinding mud into the fabric and trading stories. Strewn across the carpet is a mess of well scuffed boots, spurs and chaps, frayed reins, blue jeans in various states of disrepair: the telltale detritus of a rodeo.

On one couch, Tyler Thomson, in a bright purple button-up shirt with Wrangler written across the back, is running through his hit-list for me: “Plenty of bumps, bruises, stitches, a broken thumb. But my knees, I guess you could say, have been my Kryptonite.” Thomson, 31 years old and from one of the most storied families of Calgary rodeo, has blue eyes, a million-dollar smile and one Canadian Professional Rodeo Association championship under his belt. “I think I’ve torn every ligament out of my right knee,” he says, “and I tore the ACL out of my left knee. Kept me out a year and a half. But nothing too serious, knock on wood.” In an hour or so, for the third day in a row, Thomson will mount a nearly one-tonne bull and try to stay on for eight seconds.

Click here to read the complete story in PDF version.

I’ve been writing stories for as long as I can remember.  But I’ve only been taking photographs seriously since I took a class with Pulitzer-Prize winner Pat Davidson at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2007.  My photographs have come a long way since then.  They still have a long way to go.  But I was honored when Canadian Geographic featured a collection of my best travel photographs in this month’s edition of its Field Reports, a monthly column that profiles Canadian photographers.

Field Reports

Interview with Remy Scalza

Remy Scalza’s first experience abroad was in his third year of university, when he spent a semester in Australia. After that, the Vancouverite couldn’t get enough of traveling. He spent nearly a decade in South America and Spain, teaching English as a Second Language and getting to know various cultures. He lists the Atlantic coast of Brazil and Cappadocia — a region in central Turkey where the Grand Canyon-type landscape captivates many a photographer — among his most memorable experiences.

Q What inspired you to pursue this career?

A There’s enormous satisfaction in capturing a beautiful image. Part of what appeals to me is that it’s a completely different side of the brain you’re using. In fact, sometimes on the spur of the moment, it’s hard to switch back and forth between thinking as a writer and thinking as a photographer. The writer side is hyper-rational, thinking out every detail. Photography has more intuitive elements. It’s more immediate and emotional . . . .

Check out the rest of the interview and a photo gallery on the Canadian Geographic site.