For those of you who didn't already know, that's
Alphan to
Ziaul with me, Niklas, somewhere in between!
We met on the 5th of March at Ziaul's hotel in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul , Alphan's home city. I wrote a
'Live' blog post the day after as a quick summary.
After a little chat we took off west towards my hotel, which is located across the tram tracks from the Grand Bazaar, to the south.
Here are some quick snaps of the guys walkin' and shootin':
Here are a few of my street shots from this first part:
And here's one from Zia:
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
Alphan seems to have found something yellow here:
This is what he got:
When we came back up the alley from my hotel, we met this guy who works at the restaurant at the top of the alley.
He talks to me every time I walk by, trying to get me to eat there.
Now, he wanted me to take his portrait, with a pose he had probably practiced.
Here's Zia's version of events:
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
And here's how the portrait turned out:
Next stop was just a block or two away. It was to revisit a shop owner who I had photographed on my visit to Istanbul last year.
And to give him some prints of the photos I sot then. You can read the whole story about this
in my blog .
When we were in the shop, Alphan was busy translating for me. But Zia had some time to be creative!
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
Zia liked the scene so much he caught a more clear version too:
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
Here are some more street shots from this area:
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
Not quite sure what to do next, we decided to go to the roman aqueduct and the butcher's district close to it.
To get there we walked through the University area. There were some criss-crossing involved and some using of Alphan's phone GPS.
But that only made for more interesting street photography scenery to explore!
Should you let sleeping dogs lie? Yes! Should you take pictures of them? Yes again!
Kept the guys waiting while working this scene. And below is what I managed.
Take a closer look. I think I can count seven people talking on their mobiles!
Visiting the mosques you pass, while streeting in Istanbul is a must! There was a service going on, so we didn't go inside this time.
Alphan's found something to pique his interest here!
And here's the resulting photo:
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
Same scene, Alphan's version:
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Arriving at the butchers' district, people were having their lunches in the park. We had some lunch too, but not after some snapshots:
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
As a footnote, I'll tell you that the shot above, was taken in the exact same spot where I shot this one last year:
Going down the hill from the butchers' district:
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
Here's my version with the reaction on Zia's shot, maybe a second later:
We noticed that the sun was starting to come out a little after a grey beginning to the day. Here's Alphan doing his thing:
This is the result:
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
The guys liked the light here and maybe found some lines they wanted to explore.
I just turned 180 degrees and tried to make something with this Turkish 'pyramid' we had just walked down.
We entered into an area of small streets and alleys where I found the proprietor of a sweet shop:
Alphan found a man and a lorry:
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
And Zia found the same man and lorry:
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
Here Alphan found this shot outside a different sweet shop:
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
After Alphan shot the above photo, the man struck up a conversation with him and proceeded to tell him the story of his life.
A lorry with bones from the butcher shops came through the street and Zia was ready:
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
I wasn't as alert right away, but it got stuck in a traffic jam a little later and I managed this one:
Here I saw Zia playing with a mirror and documented:
Here's what Zia saw:
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
We came out of the first batch of alleys and the sun was shining full blast towards an almost black sky. What a treat for a streetie!
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
This was an area with shops for kitchenware and Zia wanted to find a little Turkish coffeepot.
Alphan was helping him, but I was shooting away among the pots and pans:
Alphan found a similar shot standing a few meters to my right!
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Now closer to the Spice Market going back into the alleys was crowded up to the point of claustrophobia!
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Finally out from the alleys without being crushed having a few breaths in front of Yeni Cami:
Just a minute and Mr A is ready to go again:
And the result:
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
We walked the underpass and used up the last rays of the day in front of the ferries at Eminönu.
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
All three of us circled this young woman with the sky blue shawl. Here's Zia caught in the act:
And here's Zia's shot, when he had circled her a bit more:
And here's Alphan's version:
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Alphan in action again:
And here's the result:
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Alphan in THE tunnel:
What he saw:
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Photo: Alphan Yilmazmaden
Photo: Ziaul Kareem
A
Çay and a chat to sum up the day. Then back our separate ways through a darkening Istanbul.
This Journal Skin was designed by Night-Beast
Niklas