Exploring the Caves as Shelters, Sacred Spaces, and Photography Subjects

Abstract

Caves are underground cavities with unique structures that form over time due to various forces, including geochemical and tectonic processes, water erosion, and hydrothermal activity. From past to the present humans have used caves for many different purposes such as shelter, dungeon, place of worship, cold storage, therapy, treatment of respiratory diseases, use of underground water, tourism, etc. Since caves are protected places, they are also the places where the oldest known works of art of mankind are located. The wide range of uses of caves, their dark and closed structures, and the different roles they have played throughout history, have always made them places of curiosity, discovery, and artistic creation. In this study, the emotions evoked by caves as alternative shelters are revealed through art photographs taken by the author, a cave explorer.