Istanbul Journal, 4: ferrying across the Bos

Living on the Asian side of the Bosporus means we have the option of taking ferries, instead of the metro, to go to the European side where most of the museums, monuments, and government offices can be found. What a delightful privilege!

It’s about an 8 minute walk to the ferry docks in Kadikoy, and ferries to the main docks on the other side leave every 15-30 minutes. No, it’s not as fast as the subway, but it’s way more scenic and pleasant. There’s (almost) always plenty of seats, unlike the metro which is often a total sardine can. And there’s always a snack bar serving, among other things, Turkish tea for ~50 cents a glass, and in winter, hot salep, a Turkish equivalent of hot chocolate.

Below is a slideshow of some of the things one will see taking a ferry across the Bos. In this case, our ferry went part way up the Golden Horn as well, allowing sitings of some Byzantine monuments (now converted to mosques), as well. By the way, the Turkish word for mosque is cami (pronounced jommee), and when it’s a specific cami, another “i” is added, as in Sulimaniye Camii (Sooleemonneyeh Jommee-e).

The camera I used has pretty poor lenses and resolution so I decided turn most of the images into “posters” to compensate for their poor quality. Still, I hope you enjoy this virtual ride across the Bos…

Istanbul Journal, 3; In 12 steps

As we settle into Istanbul life it’s easy to cease to feel the wonder and distinctness of everything around us. Now, Nancy has her research to help keep her eyes and mind open, and I have my poetry to un-protect me. Still, we both think it’s important to keep exploring. And lo and behold, we have discovered there’s so much to see near to home.

I’ve named this slideshow In 12 Steps, but it’s not a recovery program; rather it’s a discovery program. We were walking thru some back streets and turned a corner. In the next 12 steps we took, these are 12 of the things we saw… (All images have been lightly manipulated to compensate for the mediocre quality of the camera and mediocre skills of the camera-man.)

Istanbul Journal, 1

Thunderstorms delay our departure 3 hours.
Us, the ever-light travelers, today burdened with three 50 pound suitcases, plus carry-ons, plus briefcase and backpack full of books and electronics.
Security going in, and passport control coming out… a breeze. Yes, TSA is definitely worth it.
First stop, Arnavutkoy, a hip section of European-side Istanbul, where we’ll stay for eight days until our apartment in Kadikoy on the Asian side, is available. Arnavutkoy translates to Albanian Village, where Suleiman settled commandeered Albanian workers to build/rebuild streets and roads of the newly conquered Constantinople. The place has gone thru changes.
Here’s some visual impressions taken in the first two hours of our arrival, before a meal of olive-stuffed grape leaves and spinach manta, then to stagger off to bed, where I lay awake for hours, while Nancy happily slept.
Like most sections of Istanbul along the Bosporus, the contour rises steeply from the water along organic, winding streets and alleys. We are about halfway up the steep trek to Arnavutkoy’s upper hilltops.

Patterns

Just back from a short trip to Maryland’s eastern shore. During our stay, Josh, Jonah, Nancy and I took a delightful stroll around Burton Island, about a 2 mile trail thru typical wetlands and forest. Of the photos I took, here’s a collection I’ve named “Patterns.” I hope you enjoy it.

Turk ve Islam Museum, manuscripts and other treasures

One of the great museums in Turkiye is the Turk ve Islam, featuring Turkish and Islamic arts. Below you can view a slideshow of some of my favorite exhibits, primarily manuscripts, plus some carpets. Enjoy.

Istanbul thru a lens, Feb. 2024

Here’s a slideshow of some pictures I took while visiting Istanbul in February, 2024.

Poe, kaleidoscoping

As I experimented with a famous 1848 photo of Edgar Allen Poe, now in the public domain, to come up with an image for the 61st episode of the Eternal Jew’s Tale (found at the Times of Israel, at https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-eternal-jews-tale-61-a-raven/) my “darkroom work” produced the following collection of images. For your edification…

Carroll Gardens Shrines

My wife and I are visiting NYC, staying in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood in Brooklyn (F train to Carroll St).. I’d call this one of New York’s best “Little Italys” with some completely fabulous shops (Caputo’s Fine Foods is a Mich 3 market in my book, and Monteleone’s Bakery is right up there too, including perfect espresso).

When we arrived at Carroll St station for the first time and walked the 5 or so blocks to our 4 day apartment rental, we were bemused by the many religious shrines in the yards. I’d never seen anything like it. Sure, we’ve seen religious shrines in lots of yards, but here, every 2nd or 3rd house had a shrine. I loved it!! Today is our last day here. I decided I just had to make a photo record of some of the shrines, and here it is. Mind you, these photos were all taken along just 2 1/2 blocks, and on 1 1/2 of those blocks I only took photos on ONE side of the street, not both sides!!

As I was taking one of these photos (#4), the owner of the house came out, clearly pleased that I was photographing his Madonna. He apologized for the algae growing on it, but I told him it looked like it had been painted to bring out the shadows. Nature as artist. Our conversation lasted hardly more than a minute or two, but I think we both walked away elevated, feeling like we’d made a meaningful connection. Well, it was meaningful to me, at least.

Oh, I should mention that the last 5 slides aren’t really shrines, but like the shrines they ARE public-private statements that are an active part of the neighborhood’s personality. And there are a couple of slides in which the “shrine” is just a beautifully gardened yard.

What a great place to stay while visiting NYC. What a great place to live.

Here’s my Carroll Gardens Shrines slideshow:

13 Ways of Looking at a Redtail

I never much liked Wally Stevens’ poetry, but, hell, I’m not above stealing a good title!

Walking in Riverside Park yesterday I sited a redtail, and snapped a photo of her (him? them?). Interestingly, New York has one of the highest densities of raptors in the US. Lots of squirrels and rats to eat, I guess. Anyway, here are 13 ways of looking at that redtail…

A portrait study

I was skyping the other day and I guess the person onscreen was in a bright light: his face was totally washed out. I took a screen shot, which turned out to have a strong blue shading, and from that I worked up this series of transformations. FYI, they are not presented here in the order in which they were produced. This is not a chronological development of the image, but I did try to present a sort of visual narrative in this ordering.
Always glad to get your feedback, critical or otherwise…

Studies of a painted room

The other night, standing in my study looking into the dining room where Nancy was working, I saw a strange thing: the walls, tho all painted the same color, were all different shades. I pulled out my camera and took a picture to verify that I wasn’t in an altered state. The camera saw it my way too. So I decided to run the camera image thru some altered states, and here’s what emerged:

Vanity and play: some self portraits

As a diversion while sketching out an essay, I took some photos of myself reflected from the computer screen. Today, Shabbat, not working, I decided to play a bit and shop them up. Here's some of the results. I named this series of 5 slideshows 'Reflections'.

Nature studies, early spring

Walking thru Rock Creek Park today, I took a few photos, and then enhanced them. Here are some of the results...