Posts Tagged: Istanbul

Chapter Forty One: Life in Istanbul, October 2014

On July 3, 2015 by Simon Leech With 0 Comments - Travel

It’s been a while since my previous post looking at people sitting down in Istanbul. Here are some more photos from the same trip, looking at some of the stuff the locals get up to on a daily basis.

Selling pomegranate juice. Costs around a Euro, but freshly squeezed and tastes good, as long as you’re not too worried about the hygiene…..

Washing feet. Essential if you plan on praying in the mosque……

….. and it’s not just because they like to keep the carpet clean

Fishing on the Galata bridge. Literally hundreds of people lined across the bridge trying to catch fish. The Golden Horn is pretty well stocked, so success is almost guaranteed, and you’ll either end up with a tasty meal for later, or you can sell the fish to the restaurants trading below the bridge. The restaurants then serve the fish in a roll (balik-ekmek), which tastes pretty good. Just don’t try the turnip juice, which doesn’t. The Galata bridge is also a good spot to see dolphins, and there were 3 or 4 playing around whilst I was there.

Roasting chestnuts. The Turkish seem to have a fascination for roasting chestnuts, and they’re available all over Istanbul, whether it’s the middle of the day……

… or the middle of the night, together with a tasty cob of corn.

Selling flags. The Turkish flag seems pretty popular and well loved, and this guy was doing a brisk trade each time I walked past him.

Ever wondered where to buy a plastic mannequin? Well look no further…..

In my eyes, pigeon are vermin. Nothing more than rats with wings, noisy and filthy. But they seem pretty popular in Istanbul. Outside the New Mosque it’s even possible to buy a small bag of pigeon feed to make sure they don’t go hungry. The guy selling the feed at the back of the picture had an old analogue SLR hanging in the back of his cabin…..

If you can fit it on the back of a handcart, you’ll be able to find someone somewhere willing to pull it around for you.

This guy was trying his hardest to sell the prayer carpet over his shoulder. Or maybe it was a magic carpet? In any case, it wasn’t very popular with the punters, and he didn’t have any success in selling it when I was there.

All images taken in Istanbul with the Leica M-E and the Summilux 50mm ASPH lens.

Chapter Forty: Sitting down in Istanbul: October 2014

On February 5, 2015 by Simon Leech With 1 Comments - Travel

Whilst reviewing my post trip images from a recent trip to Istanbul, I noticed that, at least in terms of the photos I was happy with, Turkish men and women alike seem to have a lot of time to spend sitting down. Whether it’s reading a newspaper, drinking coffee, visiting a mosque, earning money, or just pondering life, they certainly like to rest their feet. Rather than do a ‘normal’ post trip report, I thought for now I would just share some shots of a nation of perchers…..

The story starts in the Grand Bazaar. In the afternoons and at the weekend a bustling market full of bargains to be made, but at 10am on a Friday morning, it’s time to relax…

…and have a cup of turkish coffee (no doubt paying less than the 12 Turkish Lira that I was charged when I attempted to do the same…..)

Of course, if it’s nice weather and you want to top up your tan, where better to sit than outside with a newspaper?

There’s always money to be made selling bird seed to tourists outside the mosque. But not on a Friday. Then it’s hard enough work trying to stay awake whilst the pigeons fend for themselves.

Once inside the mosque walls, it’s worth sitting down again to contemplate the day’s prayer

If you’re not the praying type, there’s bound to be someone who wants to buy some chain. But probably not when everyone else is praying, so until they come out, why not just sit down again and have a rest before the post mosque rush begins?

You can be sure your wife is doing the same somewhere….

…because it’s hard work shopping

For the guy who is busy selling his stuff for ‘free’, a generous friend with a cup of coffee never gets ignored

And finally, security is important. And how better to guard stuff than by sitting down. Whether they’re pigeons….

…or big bags of ‘stuff’.

All photos taken in Istanbul with the Leica M-E Rangefinder, using a combination of the 50mm Summilux ASPH, and the 90mm Elmarit-M during the Leica User Forum One Challenge weekend. Despite what the light hearted fun of this blog post might suggest, there’s a lot that can be achieved by sitting down, even if it is just for a few minutes 🙂

Chapter Six: Istanbul, April 2013

On March 5, 2014 by Simon Leech With 0 Comments - Travel

I had a busy couple of weeks travel in April, hitting Dubai, Istanbul, and Slovakia in a 10 day period. As with any business trip, photography has to take a back seat, but shooting with the rangefinder means it is a lot easy to carry my gear with me when I am traveling around. Of the few images I managed to take on this trip, I liked the juxtaposition of the shot of the lady next to the street vendor. I think it’s pretty clear whether it is the sports bag or the pretzels that she enjoys more 🙂

Sports Bag

Food is one of the aspects I enjoy with any Middle Eastern travel, and this shot shows a typical shop on the edge of the Grand Bazar – House of Spices, selling nuts, spices, and turkish delight…..

House of Spices

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Istanbul, Leica, Street Photography