Imagine Istanbul

Imagine Istanbul: A Retrospective

In 2003, I traveled to Istanbul for the first time. I took an Air Canada flight to London, England and then five days later, I flew on to Istanbul.

At the end of a day of photographing the beauty and magnificence of the city of Istanbul, I found a little shoe shine boy diligently working at his craft, perfecting the black shoe he was polishing. I watched this little boy, fascinated. He did not notice me. I approached him and knelt down beside him. He seemed frightened by my presence, but his eyes were large and dark; the most beautiful eyes in the world. I did not speak his language, he did not speak mine, but I gestured to him with my fingers, saying “how much for a shoe shine.” He answered me, “Two million lira.” Showing him my camera, I asked him if I could take a photograph and understanding, he answered, “Yes” in a shy little voice in English, the only word he knew of my language.

I took three photographs of him. The first photograph became, The Little Boy of Istanbul, No. 1. and for me, it captures beauty of this child’s eyes, but also the fear I saw in them at that moment. He was afraid of me, the stranger.

Six months later, I returned to Istanbul. The purpose of my second trip was not to photograph the city or enjoy the pleasures of a tourist but rather the obscure objective of seeking out this little boy to give him the three photographs I had taken of him. My reason for this was to give back what he had given me. There is something in his eyes that captured my heart. Without speaking his language, without knowing his name or his address, I went searching for the little boy of Istanbul in the city of 15 million people. He was not in the place where I had originally found him.

It took me three days to find the little boy. I gave him the photographs. This is the story of my search for the little boy of Istanbul. He is Kurdish. It is also my introduction to his culture. It is also a venue for the exhibition of my photographs and other writings and discovery of Istanbul, Turkey.

I call this blog: “Imagine: Istanbul, a retrospective.” Its purpose is to share the visual beauty of a city I passionately love. I chose the word: “retrospective” in naming my work, because it is a looking back at the past with an eye to the future. I use the word: “Imagine” because I want to portray the vastness of the power of the imagination. I believe in modernity gained from an understanding of history but also with a vision of the future and the prospect of moving forward.

So this all started with my first encounter with the little shoe shine boy of Istanbul. There are thousands of these poor children, working in the streets, not going to school and trying to help their families survive economically. This encounter though, produced beautiful photographs and then a very long poem whispered in my ears by the angels. Therefore, this is a blog about one poem and one poem which led to my discovery of a people, a city, the art, films and cultural scene of that city called Istanbul. My vision is optimistic and full of hope. May I remind you: in this age of the Death of the Imagination, the power of the human imagination is limitless…. It all began in the mystic city of Istanbul.

If you like this post, bookmark it!