In the Footsteps of Ara Güler in Istanbul (Nov. 2024)

Ara Güler was a famous mid-century Turkish photographer (1928-2018). He recorded the lives of dock workers, merchants, sailors, stevedores, and citizens going about their daily lives. Ara was a member of the Magnum photography cooperative. 

"I'm looking for the reality that passes in front of me."

The Ara Güler Müzesi is located in a residential neighborhood in northwest Istanbul. The museum is in a converted beer brewery, a bit of a metro ride and walk from the normal tourist areas. It displays some of his original silver gelatin prints (meaning real photographic paper) plus artifacts from his working years. The number of prints on display is limited but well worth the visit if you like to view the work of photography masters.

Gular's well-used Leica IIIC camera with a later vintage 50mm ƒ/3.5 Elmar lens

Example of reviewing proof sheets and choosing the most interesting frame

Selection of frames from a film strip

Well, needless to say, I will never be an Ara Güler, but I tried to take similar pictures around the waterfront that show the bustle and activity of Istanbul. Güler was well known for his waterfront pictures, so let's walk in his footsteps.

On the Bosphorus

The Golden Horn view west with the Suleymaniye Mosque in the distance

The Golden Horn and the Galata Tower

Karaköy waterfront from the Galata Bridge

Fish market, Karaköy

Waiting for a fish, Galata Bridge

On the Galata Bridge

On the Galata Bridge

I took these photographs with my Leica M2 camera on Kodak Tri-X film, exposed at EI=250. Güler used Tri-X as well as other films from the period. He also did some color work, but I think he is mostly remembered for his B&W photographs.

Wandering around Istanbul with Portra 160 Film (Nov. 2024)

Dear Readers, Istanbul is an amazing city, but you know that. I had not been there for almost 20 years. It was time to return. 

Istanbul tourist map (from Masha Pasha Travel)

Istanbul was the center of great empires, even before the era of the Byzantines and Ottomans. Today, Ankara is the capital of Turkey, but Istanbul is the commercial, industrial, finance and tourist powerhouse of the country. History is all around you, everywhere. You walk and breathe history. Romans, emperors, Crusaders, Persians, Greeks, Turkomans, and a myriad others walked these same streets.

Most tourists stay in the Sultanahmet district. The Romans were here 2000 years ago. This is where Hagia Sophia and other amazing mosques are located. The sultans lived here in Topkapi palace. They built cisterns to store water and paved streets with stone blocks. 

In late November of 2024, Istanbul was still crowded, even though this was supposed to be the off season. And we had sunny, clear weather until the last two days of our trip. Summer, during the humid heat and the crowded tourist season, must be almost unbearable. Here is a quick overlook from my short visit.

View of the Bosphorus from Topkapi Palace (Pentax MG camera, 50mm ƒ/2 Pentax-A lens)

Topkapi Palace ticket

In December, ₺ 1700 was about US $29. That is quite a jump compared to 2005, my previous visit.

The Golden Horn with the Karaköy district in the background

Bosphorus view from the Asian side (Samsung digital file)

Ferry boats take you back and forth across the Bosphorus for a low fare. You may recall in "From Russia with Love," James Bond (Sean Connery) and the pretty Soviet cipher girl are on a ferry boat. He asks her to talk into his Rolleiflex, which is really a miniature tape recorder. Love that 1964 technology.

 

Turkish kitty in the morning sun near Hagia Sophia (35mm ƒ/2 Pentax-A lens)

Stray dogs and cats get medical attention and neutering in Istanbul. People feed them and treat them like pets that belong to everyone.

Interior of Hagia Sophia (Samsung phone digital file)

Few domes anywhere are larger than Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque. And this one was built between 532 and 537 by Byzantine emperor Justinian I as the Christian cathedral of Constantinople. It was an astonishing architectural feat for that era. It is a mosque again, so tourists can only access the balconies. The faithful can enter the main floor without fee. 

Arasta Bazaar - for the tourist trade (35mm Pentax-A lens)

You can have a Sultan or a warrior, too.

Many of the souvenir shops in the Sultanahmet area are expensive and sell merchandise for the tourist trade. Best to avoid. The ancient stone building is part of the Sultanahmet Camii (Blue Mosque) complex. Renting commercial space is one way how mosques make money to use for their operations and upkeep.

Büyük Yeni Han, Fatih District (35mm Pentax-A lens)

A Han in Istanbul was a covered building that served as an inn, marketplace, and warehouse. Built during the Ottoman Empire, they were centers of commerce, similar to caravanserai in rural Anatolia. This one, built in the 1700s, still had some workshops on the second floor, but many of the rooms/units looked unused. The brick section crossing the courtyard was a later construction.

Fatih rooftops from Büyük Yeni Han

Egyptian (Spice) Market

The famous Spice Market, also known as the Egyptian Market, in the Eminönü quarter near the Golden Horn, is modern. It was built in 1664. Isn't it nice to be surrounded by infrastructure that is still in use 400 years later? Compare and contrast with the typical crappy US strip mall, maybe 15 years old and already abandoned and trashed. At the Spice Market, buy your oregano, figs, Turkish Delight, and baklava. 

Don't feed the seagulls? Seems like it is done in Istanbul.

Grand Bazaar

The core of the Grand Bazaar (Büyük Çarşı) was started in 1455. It is a huge complex of shops and stalls selling jewelry, textiles, rugs, and souvenirs. Today, it is rather civilized, with LED lights, clean floors, and ventilation, and the merchants accept credit cards. 

In 1965, the Grand Bazaar was rather earthy. I miss the earthy. I wish I had photos of the earthy, but I think those family slides have disappeared. 

Well, you readers know what is next:

 

Dinner with a new friend

Time for a Turkish coffee and pistachio pastry. What else do you do after an exhausting day touring?

If you have never been to Istanbul, go. Just do it. 

More Istanbul to follow. I took these pictures on Kodak Portra 160 film with a Pentax MG 35mm camera and 35 and 50mm Pentax-A lenses. The MG is a consumer version of the compact M series of SLR cameras from the 1980s. I am amazed how well this little camera works. It does not have a manual exposure mode, so I used it as a point-focus-and-shoot. The Pentax K-mount lenses are superb and inexpensive.   

P.S., my 2005 visit:  https://worldofdecay.blogspot.com/2013/02/at-grand-bazaar-and-egyptian-market.html

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Tourist Information.  If you need the services of a knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and patient guide, call Lale Kosagan at KSG Tours. She is fabulous.

At the Grand Bazaar and Egyptian Market, Istanbul, Turkey

Dear readers, let us continue our tour of markets, which are always fun.  One of the oldest and grandest anywhere is the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul. According to Wikipedia, the Büyük Çarşı, meaning "Grand Bazaar" is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world. It contains 61 covered streets and 3,000 shops, and may attract 250,000 to 400,000 visitors every day.

When I was here in the 1960s, it was still pretty authentic (= smelly, dark, questionable sanitary standards, suspicious jewelry).  Unfortunately, I do not have any photographs from that era.  Bad or good news (depending on your opinion of modernization):  today it is clean, well-lit, and the vendors take credit cards. There are even ATMs for your convenience.  That takes some of the fun out of the experience.  However, keeping up with the times is how a 500-year-old institution thrives.  We were warned that many of the authentic "Turkish" carpets are made in China now.

Trivia question:  What James Bond movie has some scenes in the Grand Bazaar?  Answer:  From Russia with Love, the second Bond film, released in 1963 and starring Sean Connory.

Proceed east, downhill towards the Golden Horn, and you reach the Egyptian Market. On a Sunday, this is a lot of fun. The barrel-vaulted building, dating from 1660, is also known as the Spice Bazaar (Turkish: 'Mısır Çarşısı'). The "Egypt" part of the name may come from the fact that revenues from Egypt, then part of the Ottoman Empire, helped pay for construction.

You can buy clothing, all sorts of nuts and spices, and the normal farmers' market stuff. The dry figs that I ate here and in central Anatolia were the most delicious I have ever tasted.

These are a bit more mysterious.  Do you eat the red berries or the yellow husk?

If figs or unusual fruits are not enough, visit the operatic gyro vendor.  His pita sandwiches looked really good, as did the fries and chilled juices, and he sings for you.

When it is time for a drink, these gents sell genuine freshly-squeezed orange juice, but I am not sure if they sing.

In keeping with the theme of appreciating the local ladies of the market, this trio is has plenty of attitude.

I suppose this little guy also had attitude.

If you prefer quieter ladies, some of them are missing parts of their heads, while others are missing their undergarments.

When you tire of the crush of people at the markets, cross the Golden Horn on the Galata Bridge (Galata Köprüsü). The waterway has been spanned by bridges since the time of Justinian the Great. Leonardo da Vinci designed a bridge for this site, but the sultan chose not to build it. This is the view back across the Horn, with the Süleymaniye (Süleymaniye Camii) Ottoman imperial Mosque on the skyline.

Walk along the waterfront west of the Galata Bridge, and you come to a casual restaurant that grills freshly-caught sardines, served at tiny tables.  They have big crunchy rolls, so you can make a sardine Po-Boy. Good company, a beer, sardines, the Golden Horn: it doesn't get much better than this....

Older market posts:

• Athens Flea Market today.
• Athens Flea Market in the early-1950s
• Athens Central Market
• Farmer market in Vrahati, Greece
• Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Asan Chowk in Kathmandu, Nepal
• Ladies of Nepal 

Most Istanbul photographs were taken with a Sony DSC-W7 compact digital camera.