David Hagerman: The Ferry Boats of Istanbul

Photo  David Hagerman-All Rights Reserved

David Hagerman attended The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul and produced an evocative audio slideshow titled The Ferry Boats of Istanbul, which he just published on his blog.

Yes, Istanbul is the city of Sultanahmet Camii, the Aya Sofya, the Kapali arsi, but it's also the Bosphorus ferries that characterize it. These ferries provide vital links between different areas of that magnificent city, connecting the European and the Asian coastline. The first steam ferries appeared on the Bosphorus in 1837, were operated by private sector companies and currently carry approximately 61 million passengers yearly.

It is these that Dave decided to document. The audio slideshow with its glowing images and ambient sound will transport you in such ferries...the sound of the turnstiles, the sirens, the voices of the passengers, and even the clink of the spoon in tea glasses that are served on ferries...all ambient sound intelligently selected to provide a complete visual and aural experience of these Istanbuli fixtures.

David Hagerman is a photographer based in Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia, whose work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal Asia, Saveur, Budget Travel, Travel & Leisure SEA, The Chicago Tribune, South China Morning Post, Time Out KL, and Lonely Planet guidebooks. His work is also featured on the very popular Eating Asia blog.

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Global Post: Turkish Brothels

Photo  Nicholas Dynan-All Rights Reserved
One of my favorite online news provider is Global Post, not only for its cutting edge news reporting and analysis, but also for its frequent "off-the-beaten-path" features such as the one of Turkish transsexual brothels by Nicholas Dynan.

It also periodically publishes Full Frame which features photo essays and conversations with photographers in the field (including myself).

The Turkish transsexual brothels which, we are told, can be located in the busiest streets of Istanbul, and are the work place of some of Istanbul's transgender and transsexual sex workers.

To the best of my recollection, only one attendee of the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul last June presented work relating to transgender issues. Pedro Gomes, who attended my multimedia class, produced Esmeray, an audio slideshow about a transgender feminist-sex worker-actor.

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Mervyn Leong: Hammams, Spreader of Warmth

Here's a lovely audio-slideshow by the gifted Mervyn Leong W.Y. which you can either view on Vimeo (click above) or via his website here. The quality of the latter is better.

Mervyn attended the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul (he also attended last year's in Manali), and participated in Rena Effendi's Telling A Human Story Through A Compelling Portrait class. I spent time with Mervyn as he prepared to photograph inside the less-than-hospitable-for-photography interiors of the hammams, and can vouch for his meticulous planning, and how he took pains to wrap his camera, lenses and audio gear in saran-wrap (to protect them against moisture and steam).

An engineer by profession, Mervyn took photography and photojournalism more seriously a couple of years ago, and has made impressive strides in his work. He's also endowed with an encyclopedic knowledge of gastronomy, cooking and food in general.

I think that Hammams: Spreader of Warmth is a very well made audio slideshow (I particularly like the opening image of the slideshow, which is almost a painting), and the audio tracks are well sync'ed. You'll find it a delight to watch...and like the patrons enjoying the turkish bath, you may feel equally relaxed and refreshed.

The hamams in the Ottoman culture started out as annexes to mosques, and quickly evolved into institutions and eventually into monumental structural complexes in the mid 1500s. Typical hamams consist of three interconnected rooms: the sicaklik which is the hot room; the warm room which is the intermediate room; and the sogukluk, which is the cool room.

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Ramin Rahimian: Istanbul

Image Copyright © Ramin Rahimian-All Rights Reserved
Ramin Rahimian's slideshow on Istanbul starts with a quote from Alphonse de Lamartine: "If one has but one glance to give the world, one should gaze at Istanbul". How true.

However if you expect to see skyline of Istanbul, its beautiful mosques and other architectural wonders, you'll be disappointed. Ramin's work is of the documentary style, and it's beautifully edgy.

Ramin was born in Iran and grew up in northern California. He started taking photojournalism seriously at UC Berkeley and currently freelances out of Salt Lake City in Utah. He worked for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and freelances for thee New York Times, Reuters, ZUMA and has gleaned many awards.

His website has interesting other photo essays which I encourage you to see. The one titled Boomtown is particularly powerful...but for TTP, I chose Ramin's view of Istanbuli life, and also chose this photograph because of its colors and shadow play.

Ramin Rahimian's Istanbul

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