Dreams of Istanbul

Tagged as: cities, dreams, Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, Rena Effendi

Istan­bul has so much to see that my eyes’ only relief comes from look­ing up.

I dream of Istan­bul. Four days and nights I’ve lived and breathed the city. Its east and west, cap­i­tal­ism and social­ism, Asian­ness and Euro­pean­ness, beau­ty and ugli­ness. I’m here for the Foundry Pho­to­jour­nal­ism Work­shop to shoot a sto­ry in a week.

How do I feel about this city? I ask myself every morn­ing before leav­ing my hos­tel. Then I go out to attend class with Rena Effen­di (more on this won­der­ful pho­tog­ra­ph­er lat­er) and take pho­tographs. In the evening, almost comatose I’m back in my hos­tel going through my pho­tos and exchang­ing sto­ries with my fel­low work­shop­pers. Then I pass out.

Final­ly, the answers come to me in my dreams. But by the morn­ing, I have for­got­ten them.

I hope these dreams find their way into my images. I hope the answers that elude me every morn­ing reveal them­selves in the faces and places I cap­ture. Can I pho­to­graph a dream? I have two more days to find out.