Dear Viewer,
Chasing the Colors in Istanbul is an act of quiet resilience from a young person whose thoughts, emotions, and existence often feel suppressed by authority. In an era shaped by rising autocracy and collective anxiety, it becomes easier to notice fear than tenderness, chaos more than color.
Instead of following the crowd, I chose to isolate fleeting moments from it.
Throughout the series(2026—ongoing), the streets of Istanbul become a living space where solitary figures, sunlight, and vivid colors briefly emerge against the psychological weight of the present. I imagine that everyone passing through the streets leaves behind a piece of their inner world, until the street itself becomes a kaleidoscopic stage.
For me, photography is one of the few tools capable of preserving a collective state of mind within a specific moment in history. Once memory is erased, it becomes impossible to reconstruct what was once felt.
The photographs unfold like pages from a visual diary.
Each image serves as a reminder, both to myself and to you:
the colors still exist in Istanbul.
2026
New Generation in an Old Building
In the prayer hall of the New Mosque in Eminönü, on an ordinary Tuesday noon, a little girl began turning cartwheels across the men’s section. While rows of worshippers faced south in devotion, she experienced the space upside down — again and again — seeing the world from an entirely different axis. After her final turn, she ran back into her mother’s arms. For a brief moment, she carried the entire room into the inner world of childhood: a space untouched by doctrine.
Blue House
Hidden within the backstreets of Fatih, these wooden houses stand as remnants of an earlier Istanbul. Once a defining feature of the city, they gradually disappeared after centuries of devastating fires. Yet here, sustained by the affection of the neighborhood and painted in colors chosen by their owners, they continue to preserve the fading spirit of old Istanbul.
I Want to Break Free
German Shepherd and Turkish Raki
A German Shepherd joins his owners at a traditional Turkish rakı table during an evening gathering with friends. Trained to offer his paw in place of a hand, he participates in the ritual of clinking glasses before settling beside the table to enjoy his own meatballs. As conversations unfold around him, he quietly watches the life of the street pass by.
Colors Facing the Sea, Eminönü
Indigo and Wings
A bird hovers above an Ottoman bird fountain moments before landing, while a girl in an indigo scarf photographs the scene in Eyüp Sultan Mosque's courtyard. The image captures Istanbul's enduring tradition of compassion toward animals, preserved through architectural details that continue to serve the city's birds today.