LIFE
FORCE
The magazine of the photo-essay
July 2017 back issue
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film maker
by Andrea Künzig
“The key word in Istanbul is time rather than space. The soul of the city flows
through time. In the labyrinths of the millennia, you call out numerous names by
which the city is known, one after the other, and stop to marvel at how the spaces
here have served same purpose for thousands of years. And on another occasion,
that a street you walked down just yesterday is today simply no longer there, and
you understand on your rambles the interlocking of standstill and movement, of
permanence and change. In those places where you might suppose that the city has
had to sacrifice its jealously guarded identity to ongoing changes, you suddenly
realize that it’s that good old identity that has determined the direction of the change
all along.” (Oya Baydar)
In the project Istanbulum I concentrated on people’s everyday lives, and exploring especially how modern lifestyle
coexists with traditional Islamic culture. Istanbul is a seismograph for what is happening in the rest of the country,
holding up a mirror to the social and political changes taking place there. In many cases, the photographs only call to
mind on second glance other images that reveal a deeper meaning and which raise questions about politics and
society.
From 2010 until 2014 I lived and worked in Istanbul, and was fascinated by its thousand year old history and its mix
of cultures. I loved Istanbul, the city on the Bosporus, there is nothing like it anywhere in the world, extending as it does
with all the inhabitants on its outskirts across two continents. Europe is geographically near, but at the same time far
away; to some extent unreachable.
Now we just can say Quo Vadis Turkey?
Traditional candyfloss seller, Kartal.
Fish market with a view of the mosque, Karaköy.
Women sit on the banks of the Bosporus, Beykoz.
Sunday picnic, Haliç.
Street in Cihangir.
Water vendor making his daily deliveries of bottled water, Büyükada.
Railway underpass, Maltepe.
Military band march in the Military Parade on Victory Day 30th of August, Fatih.
Boy with a homemade float ring made of empty plastic bottles, Yedikule coast.
Women in a pub waiting for a Tarot card reading, Beyoglu.
A family arrives in Istanbul from the Black Sea area with all their belongings, not knowing where they will live. At the bus
station, Harem.
Pool at the Kempinski Hotel, Ortaköy.
Resting at the Bosporus, Besiktas.
Water transport of goods to the island, Büyükada.
Young women in Sulukule.
Women in a fish restaurant, Bostanci.
