Persongalleriet #398: In Besiktas with Canan

Istanbul, April 13th 2015.
Here are a bunch of picture from my day with Canan, a Turkish photographer and illustrator who was kind enough to show me a part of her city I hadn't seen before:  Beşiktaş.

Anarchy.

It seems I am becoming more and more of a cat photographer.  :-)

And Canan wants to be one too!

Stopping for çay is a good idea!

Here are the cats again!

Legs.

Than you Canan for an awesome day!  :-)

Niklas

Persongalleriet #396: Istanbul Garage

Super-tired after a long day and a long extended week in The Big I. Today was great fun, as I got another photo walk session with Alphan Yilmazmaden. This picture is from the 12th, however. Today's pics are not even in the computer yet! Tomorrow morning, I fly to Lisbon. Here I come, Portugal!

See ya!

Niklas

Persongalleriet #395: Istanbul Ramblings

On the 12th of April, I did a bit of a random photo-walk. I started with a few blocks in the neighborhood around the hotel. A great place for street photography! It was a Sunday, so the area was, if not exactly deserted, definitely less crowded than during other days of the week.

Catwalk.

Portrait of a man with an apple.

I then walked up to the tram line and followed it west.

Candid portrait. Busted!

I came to Aksaray where I tried to find a shot under the bridge. There were a lot of people around by now as this place is also a tram stop.

Another candid portrait. Busted again!

I found some nice alleys where a lot of guys were playing games and drinking çay.

Wondering where to go next, I brought out the map. I found that I was pretty close to Valens Aqueduct, from the Roman era. That might be interesting!

Going through the arches I came upon a lively avenue with restaurants, a mosque and a whole district of butchers' shops! Sensistive viewers should close their eyes while scrolling down a few clicks!

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Five Heads.

These pretty boys saw me taking their picture and invited me for some çay. I got the chair and the çay sat on the pavement.  ;-)

When I had finished the çay, the butcher came out and asked for a pic.

He wanted one in front of his shop, too.

Although I rambled on for another few hours, this will have to do for now!

Greetings!

Niklas

Persongalleriet #394: Following Alphan's Advice

Istanbul, April 11th 2015.
On the previous day, Turkish Street Photography wizard Alphan Yilmazmaden and I went for a glorious 9 hour photo walk together through the streets of Istanbul. As I reported yesterday and a couple of days earlier. On the day after, I followed all of the tips Alphan had given me for the day. But my body was protesting, since I hadn't gotten much sleep.

At about midnight a fire started right outside my hotel and we weren't allowed back in our rooms until 2 am. And yes, that's my room right above those AC units, to the right.

First I went to the Sultanahmet mosque.

Afterwards, I went down the hill to the northwest.

At least part of that area is a downright slum, like this half-torn-down building with people still living in it. I'm told many of the people there are Syrian refugees.

There was a neighborhood market this Saturday.

I went on through Eminönu to Karaköy to follow Alphan's foodie advice.

First I went for the Dürüm mackerel sandwiches at the Karaköy fish market. So incredibly spicy and good that I couldn't help myself from eating two!  :-)

And then I went on to the "best baklava in Istanbul". Some çay with that. Yummy!

What a day! Thanks Alphan for all the great tips!

/Niklas

Persongalleriet #393: Istanbul Continued

I feel I'm a bit backlogged with my so called 'live' reporting from this great city. But I'll start off with some more pictures from the 10th of April 2015, which was my day with Alphan Yilmazmaden.

We had a lot of çay breaks!  :-)

Alphan at work!

Happy Trash Man.

We visited some mosques.

And even more çay. Even tough this çay isn't ours.

Covered Hair.

By the Tram Line.

We had a special street photo challenge in these crowded alleys north and downhill from the Grand Bazaar.

Sunflower.

Maybe close-ups were the best choice in that environment.

My report from this lovely day will be continued at a later date!

/Niklas