In 2016, my family and I moved to Crete. The largest of Greece’s islands, it’s an idyllic place—rich in mythology, history, and nature.

Yet since I arrived, I’ve also felt a strange, dark energy here. Not from the people, but from the island itself. As if the nature and environment sometimes present an imminent threat.

This photo series is my attempt to exorcise this feeling; to bring it into the light so I can better understand it and, ultimately, rid myself of it.

—Mehran Khalili

If you liked this article, you may enjoy these previous features: A Certain Distance, a striking black-and-white study of the photographer’s struggle with mental illness; Saints, Panos Kefalos’ series, shot on the streets of Athens, that follows the day-to-day lives of immigrants in the city; and Roger Ballen in the House of the Ballenesque, a video interview that follows the renowned artist around one of his recent exhibitions.