Departure Lounge, the third book, brings the trilogy full circle. With images culled from Eskenazi's archive 1991-2018. Eskenazi uses the metaphor of a Departure Lounge to explore some of the ways we depart from places and even from ourselves, until the final departure from life. The book is dedicated to the author’s father.
Black Garden Trilogy Notes: Though the trilogy was constructed step by step, added on book by book, there is a cohesive structure by using consecutive chapters 1-9, and consecutive plate numbers 1-314, throughout the three books. The three books span the time frame of almost 30 years, basically the time frame of Eskenazi's photographic journeys, from when he made his first foray into the world landing in Moscow in 1991-2001, until living in Istanbul in 2010-2018. By the end of the trilogy one will see some similar images from the same contact sheets from previous books giving the impression that only a moment has passed during the last 30 years represented in these three volumes. Both Wonderland and Departure Lounge were sized to exactly fit into the parameters of Black Garden. Eskenazi says he was influenced by the religious triptychs he encountered while guarding European paintings at the museum.