Pebbles From Paradise

Istanbul is a beautiful city but also suffers from chronic pollution.

Sabes is a small hosiptal in Kavicik near Beykoz, Istanbul, Turkey. The family pictured here are waiting for some help.

Sunset At Çavuşbaşı OK, I know it’s a corny, sentimental, picture with what appears to be pig-fencing in the bottom right hand corner, but my mother-in-law insisted that I take it, and who am I to argue. Enjoy!

Badem Esmesi, (Marzipan Sweets), have been made by Sevim Işgűder’s family for over 100 years in Bebek, Istanbul..

Abbas Ozferendeci is your No: 1 expert for organising conferences and events in Turkey,

Traffic jams occur regularly on the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and Bosphorus Bridges linking Europe to Asia in Istanbul, Turkey.

When visiting the European side of Istanbul it was clear that across the Bosphorus it was snowing.

Istanbul offers many incredible opportunities for spectacular photographs simply because its polluted air diffuses light beautifully during winter months.

Sirkeci is the district of Istanbul where you may obtain service for your electric shaver, fountain pen, wrist watch, cigarette lighter, and of course your Brigg umbrella.

If you want to know if it was Cartier-Bresson or Winnogrand who inspired me when taking the image above just click on it. It will take you to the original photograph I had in my mind to precede it in my presentation.

Any object may be made to look beautiful when photographed sympathetically.

Man On The Roof The image above was taken on an overcast winter’s day with the OM-1 and a Zuiko 1.8 lens. I love this image because of the way the figures in the foreground appear to be dancing and of course because there’s a man on the roof of the dwellings opposite us. The [...]

The [Not So] Golden Horn, [At This Time Of The Day]. The Golden Horn is one of the treasures of Istanbul, although I’ve never been here when the sunlight produces the gold colour in its waters that gives rise to its name. In Ottoman times it was said to be crystal clear but during the [...]

The Gates of Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul. Probably ‘job’s worth‘ is more apt as the subject of this post rather than popinjay but popinjay will do and makes for nice alliteration! You see, gentle reader, whilst it’s possible to photograph the official guard at Dolmabahçe Palace, as you can see in the image above, when you [...]

Normally the nearest thing to a mall that I get to is Umranye Carefour but today Amazon’s older relatives are in our charge and they have brought us to Cevahir Shopping Mall. These young scamps seem to have a purpose! Where are they taking us? Fortunately Granny is the treasurer At last all is revealed [...]

Just as I became used to carrying the E-400 with the Panasonic/Leica Summilux D 25mm attached so have I become accustomed to the extra weight and bulk of the Olympus E-3 and the Summilux. Indeed the E-3/Summilux combination feels far more balanced when slung from the shoulder. I’ve not attempted any street photography with the [...]

Olympus E-400, Zuiko D 50mm (Crop). No this isn’t original Cappadocian art, it’s contemporary art hanging on Yengicim‘s wall. Bizarre perhaps but strangely balanced and although grotesque alarmingly reassuring. A real artistic paradox. I sat opposite most of yesterday whilst reading a thick tome on Cappadocia. Outside the window this chap maintained his perch for [...]

Back at the boating lake at Carrefour Hurray, after three days of being laid low with a fever I ventured out today to Carrefour. There I escaped without buying any expensive photography tomes but I did take some images with an E-400 fitted with the OM 24mm Zuiko via a lens adapter. I like this [...]

Some Family Therapy Training Clinic Participants Those readers who visit here because of my entries on photography won’t be surprised to learn that I wasn’t over-pleased with the technical quality of the group photographs of my Family Therapy Training Course participants made this past weekend. This group image is of those who come to learn [...]

Irem Looking Over Family Therapy Resource Notes In Our Hotel Room Irem was just looking at some papers she had prepared for our Family Therapy students on Sunday when I heard her make a huge belly laugh. When I asked the source of her mirth she read me this quotation from the book Jay Haley [...]

You Are Looking At Some Very Highly Qualified Medics Amongst The Members Of This Group For over ten months I’ve been sneaking off from paradise to train some prominent and up-coming clinicians in family therapy. Not only have these students been counsellors and pedagogues they also include two professors of psychiatry and a number of [...]

Unprinted File From Digital Negative Scan Until recently I thought that the differences in quality between different brands of Photo Inkjet Paper to be exaggerated. No doubt this is because I have been used to using the paper by whatever brand of printer I owned, I have had Canon, Epson and now have pretty much [...]

Scan of Monochrome Image Made On Schoeller Acid Free Watercolour Painting Paper I spent yesterday continuing to attempt to come to grips with the HP B9180. When I purchased it last month there wasn’t any photographic paper in A3 size at the stationers so I bought some large Sulphur Free Watercolour paper for painting manufactured [...]

Cold, Dark, Wet, Miserable, and Essentially Beautiful! I’ve just returned from Istanbul where not only did I find myself teaching for two days, but also consulting at a professor of child psychiatry colleague’s hospital clinic. She would, no doubt, have kept me there all day but I was able to escape for just an hour [...]

I woke in my ‘otel today to discover that the city had received a light dusting of snow. When we lived in Istanbul I think I saw more regular snow than in my previous life spent in England. It is true, of course, that it does snow in the U.K. and even today people can [...]

Looking Toward Topkapi From A Bosphorus Steamer When I travel to Istanbul I have taken to using the OM-1 and a roll of 35 mm film. In this case Fuji-Colour Super Reala 100. Taking it through airport security is a bit of a risk, and indeed there are frames on this film that showed signs [...]

Just a couple of days ago Dave Beckerman, a master of monochromatic images from New York, was lamenting Kodak’s decision to cease production of a number of professional films including its High-Speed Infrared Film. Just when I was getting back into film too! All these images were taken on discontinued Kodak film stock and then [...]

Kahve At The Cafe Of Illusion If, like me, you thought yesterday’s images surreal then take a look at this one. It’s a shot I wouldn’t have attempted has I not been attempting to use up a slow film in an old Olympus OM-1. The OM-1 is an entirely mechanical camera, although it does have [...]

Man On The Roof! Look carefully at the shot above and you’ll see that there is a man on the roof of the building. He appears to be talking on his mobile phone! Below are some more images taken near the Istanbul’s Egyptian Bazaar, which is sometimes known as The Spice Bazaar. They were taken [...]

Sirkeci is where I spent yesterday afternoon. It’s one of my favourite locations for street-shooting. As you can see it was cold, and wet. Some people seemed to have nowhere else to go! Some May Not Have Anywhere Comfortable To Go! For Others It’s Business As Usual Those in the back-streets are afforded a little [...]

Just when I thought my walk would take in just dilapidated concrete homes or hairdressing salons I saw this magnificent view of the Kılıç Ali Paşa Camii, one of the masterpieces of the Ottoman Master Architect and Builder Sinan ~~~~~ Normally I process RAW files from the compact FujiFilm® FinePix® E-900 I use S-7 RAW. [...]

In a small shop in Eminönü I came upon a Leica IIIa in what appeared to be pristine condition. Manufactured as one of a batch of 100 in 1939 the machine is even older than me. One would have to be lunatic to purchase such an item, so naturally within a few minutes I had [...]

Waiting for the metro on Eminönü Station Yesterday I wrote about how I have a dread of battery failure ruining crucial photographic opportunities when shooting either digital, or with a camera reliant upon an electronic shutter. Many cameras in this class also suffer with another deficiency. When you switch them off the lens resets itself [...]

The Leica M-5 a heavy, well specified camera that few people wanted to buy in 1973 now fetches $1000s on the second hand market Ever since I purchased my first digital camera, a Ricoh RDC 5000 with its modest 2.3 megapixel chip photography seems to have become easier. Hours wasted in darkened chemically polluted rooms [...]

Eminönü is given the antique treatment in the sunshine of Amos Peter and Pat are here bringing with them ‘The Tatler’ and ‘Practical Photography’. If Baz is reading this please ask Alice to bring a copy of ‘Vogue’ with her. I spent the morning digesting some of the techniques for Black and White processing in [...]

Amazon and Granny take to the water! Just when I thought I had seen everything I spied Amazon’s granny heading off with my princess in one of the ‘dodgem’ boats at Ümraniye Carrefour. The image above makes it seem as if Granny is in control, but that is a photographic illusion. In fact the boat [...]

The view from Aşegül’s terrace . . . . . . is equally impressive at night It’s Irem’s brother and sister-in-law’s wedding anniversary. It’s also my birthday. It’s Irem’s brother’s birthday tomorrow. It was Irem and my wedding anniversary two days ago. It’s all a bit much really and I’m getting sick of cake and [...]

Olympus E-400, an eighth of a second at F 1.4 This portrait of Irem’s brother Emre was taken by the light of three small light bulbs enclosed in decorative coloured filters similar to these: Decorative Lights For Sale In Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar Own A Camera? If you found this article of interest you may wish [...]

The Bosphorus, (11-22mm Zuiko at 11mm) I always enjoy visiting Altın Yenge, and Irem’s cousin Ceren. I have known them now for nearly twelve years. They live in an apartment on the Bosphorus near Hisar which enjoys superb views. Today when we visited everyone was in good form. Amazon Likes To Play With These Russian [...]

Çapa Hospital at Dusk It’s just amazing how much can change in an hour. Here, above, is a photograph of Çapa Hospital taken from Dr. Behiye’s pied à terre on the opposite side of the road. Behiye is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Psychiatry at Istanbul University and is based at Çapa Hospital. [...]

One of the things I enjoy about Turkish Cities is the juxtaposition between the cultures that subsist within them. Here I am drinking Turk Kahve at a relatively smart cafe when in the distance I spy two traditionally dressed women sitting under a tree. All around them appears to be litter, blown or dumped, in [...]

From The Restaurant Window This is our second day of rain since we came to Istanbul. It’s really refreshing, although Damla came here to attend a wedding and the weather must be a disappointment for the bride. We are in Sirkeci today buying those essentials that make life enjoyable. A new camera bag, a protective [...]

Irem loses it in Ümraniye Carrefour!   On the one side of her there is Granny prattling on about the price of soap powder, or some such thing. On the other side there is a little girl holding on to her and shouting “Mimmy, Mummy!” at the top of her voice. Opposite there is an [...]

Haute Cuisine Maybe? I was cleaning out some files on the computer today when I came upon this ‘still life’ image. What can this meal be, you may ask? In fact it’s no meal at all, it’s a joke! Earlier this year, when my mother-in-law was staying with us, I attempted to explain to her [...]

I saw this image last year with Hannah at the Tate Modern Istanbul Modern is worth a visit when you’re in the City. Much of the top floor houses works by a number of Turkish artists dating from the mid nineteenth century. Frankly I thought much there wasn’t really up-to-snuff, but here and there some [...]

I went along to Istanbul Modern today and was frustrated to find it closed. It apparently never opens on Mondays! This meant that I had to make do by looking at an exhibition of pictures by the Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk.The Museum’s information of Tunbjörk says: “Tunbjörk emphasises the complacency as well as the dangers [...]

Just like my first new car! During my twenties I owned a number of VW Beetles. Paradoxically the very first one I purchased was new, and all the others second hand. In many ways I regret selling my first Beetle, especially after crashing the MGB-GT I purchased to replace it into a railway bridge at [...]

The Metro Station at Findikzade Your hero is currently in Istanbul training the young, (and not so young), caring professionals of the future in the art of family therapy. This weekend we will be looking at the origins of Structural Family Therapy and making much of Minuchin. I grabbed this shot with the E-400 and [...]

Anyone For Caviar? I found this shop yesterday on my way to the Grand Bazaar. Next stop today Levent’s Orange Garden Cafe, Marmaris, for brunch/breakfast with Amazon and Irem. Own A Camera? If you found this article of interest you may wish to sign up for our FREE Course in Digital Photography. To do so [...]

Istanbul’s Enchanted Grotto! Hurrah, I’m back on the street with the mighty Summilux 25mm 1.4 attached to the E-400. No Family Therapy today until 5.00. p.m. when I will supervise the training clinic for a couple of hours. Marmaris tomorrow, yum! But today it was off to the Grand Bazaar, not quite at the crack [...]

When I come to Istanbul to teach Family Therapy I find that my urge to take photographs suddenly stops. I ask myself why do I devote so much time to photography in Marmaris? It’s not that photography becomes irrelevant in Istanbul, indeed it is here, (for today I am here), that I spend time and [...]

Posing For The Camera I am in Istanbul today and found a few moments to go to Istiklal Street which was once the most popular shopping street in the City, and even today appeals to the International community. Putting The Final Touches To A window Display The weather is overcast, and damp but nevertheless I [...]

Finding Nemo is one of Amazon’s favourite movies, but we found this little clown fish cleaning itself at Sirkeci during an afternoon shopping expedition. We like to visit Sirkeci and came here often when we lived in Istanbul, now we simply visit the place on every visit. You can probably buy, or get a repair, [...]

“This is much more fun than shopping Mummy” Visiting Istanbul isn’t just about having a break and visiting Granny, it also involves some practical shopping. And what more practical place to do it than the huge Carrefour complex at Ümraniye. This place is like B and Q on steroids. All manner of tools and appliances [...]

Amazon Takes A Ride On Nougat It’s been a few weeks since I wrote anything here and so we’ve headed west to Istanbul in search of inspiration. Indeed we’ve been here nearly a week. Yesterday we visited Kemer Golf and Country Club where Amazon took her first ride on a pony. The mount was a [...]

Tonight we will leave Istanbul and return by bus to Marmaris. Our trip here was quite traumatic, especially for Amazon who suffered from travel sickness. I thought I would spend several hours indulging in street photography but only once ventured near the streets of Istanbul. It just seemed too hot, too humid, and given the [...]

Despite my very best intentions I haven’t taken a single photograph since arriving in Istanbul. The reason is that with one exception I’ve not ventured into the city from the rural outskirt where my technical library is located. Moreover none of the photographic books are here! But on one glorious day I did manage to [...]

In Internet Marketing circles there is much discussion about such topics as conversion, squeeze pages, up-sells and similar techniques. Software has been manufactured that scrapes the content from other peoples web sites and serves it up on other web pages in response to Internet searches. Marketers know scientifically how many people are likely to buy [...]

Some time during the 1980s I recall eating a meal at home in Manchester with two dear friends called Judith and Phil. I no longer remember what constituted the first courses, but I do recall that we decided that some profiteroles would round off the food to perfection. The trouble was in those days profiterole [...]

Do You Really Need This? The Internet is one of my remaining links to the ‘real’ world. And what a sad world it’s becoming. I read that plans are afoot to decouple the Haydarpaşa railway terminal from the main network and build on some of the rail track monstrous skyscrapers 350 metres tall. A similar [...]

Street cries may be gone in London, but are electronically enhanced in Istanbul

Birth is invariably a tortuous business, and best discussed over a glass of champagne with a qualified midwife. This entry contrasts the English and Turkish maternity systems.