Black-and-White Cities / Photography / Turkey

Istanbul Half-Frames

istanbul diptychs

The hazy, dreamy diptychs that I can create with my Olympus Pen suit one city more than any other– Istanbul.

It’s easy to forget after living here for so long that this city is so enrapturing. It’s even easier to forget the poetic joys of the place when the mood is darkened by short days and persistent tension. But still, I get these flashes of nostalgia for the city that captivated me way back in 2008, when every sound and smell and color gave me goosebumps, when the city seemed like a world of endless locks and complicated keys– a puzzle box, a mystery.

This place is ripe for romanticizing, even when we feel weighted down with woozy worry.

istanbul diptychs

Wielding my small half-frame camera on Istanbul’s gray winter streets made images that feel almost removed from time. They are obscured, impressions and dashes of thought, as though seen through a dusty glass. I like seeing Istanbul like this– addictive in its unknowability, beautiful in its obtuseness.

istanbul diptychs

istanbul diptychs

istanbul diptychs

istanbul diptychs

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