}

Wall, Arch, Dome

Byzantine Istanbul in the Eyes of Ottoman Photographers

April 13 - July 1, 2007

One of the most outstanding characteristics of İstanbul's Byzantine monuments, as captured by Ottoman photographers, is their role as priceless documents in the city's history. The period between the second half of the 19th century and the turn of the 20th century is marked by profound changes in İstanbul with respect to urban structure, historical texture and monuments. A careful eye readily notices the considerable transformations spread over a hundred / hundred and fifty years in İstanbul city walls, Galata Tower, Hagia Sophia and the Hippodrome area. These photographs are full of valuable clues for today's researchers, restorers, architectures and urban planners.

Nonetheless, there is something beyond the obvious in these images: İstanbul's remaining city walls, arches, and domes of a faraway past continue to survive in another form of existence in these old photographs, which reflect an age closer to us in time, yet just as rapidly vanished. The discolored surfaces permeating an indescribable sense of the old add another layer, another epoch to the historical richness of the city.

Comprised of a selection from the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation İstanbul Photographs Collection, Wall, Arch, Dome exhibition (much like From Konstantiniyye to İstanbul exhibition in late 2006) took us on a journey in a different time dimension. Yet, on this occasion, we find ourselves in a İstanbul more ancient, more distant than the Republican or Ottoman days; it is a Byzantine İstanbul of monuments, ruins and almost imperceptible traces from thousands of years past...

Exhibition Catalogue

Wall, Arch, Dome

Wall, Arch, Dome

One of the most outstanding characteristics of Istanbul's Byzantine monuments, as captured by Ottoman photographers, is their role as priceless documents in the city's history. The period between...

Game of Mangala

Game of Mangala

Three figures in Eastern dress are shown in repose against an exotic landscape, smoking pipes and playing mangala. Inventories of the royal collections from 1739 identify the members of this group as the royal eunuch Matthias and two odalisques. 

Galatasaray, an Institution of Institutions | Besim F. Dellaloğlu

Galatasaray, an Institution of Institutions | Besim F. Dellaloğlu

Is Istanbul a single city? Will Istanbul too, be one day one day divided into different sections, and numbered like the arrondisements of Paris? These are tough questions indeed! 

Interview with Isabel Muñoz <br> By Merve Akar Akgün

Interview with Isabel Muñoz
By Merve Akar Akgün

Isabel Muñoz is a Spanish photographer renowned for her captivating monochromatic portraits of individuals and cultures from around the world. Her works have been widely exhibited in numerous galleries and museums globally.