Nothing To Lose But Yourself In Istanbul

…another zine and a foray into black and white

Earlier this year, I went to Turkey. No, it’s not what you’re thinking. I’m still bald. Instead of shelling out on a hair transplant, I spent my money on a weeklong workshop with the Raw Society. A far more enriching experience if you ask me. And one that helped me start another photography project.

So, if you’re planning a location-based project but don’t have a strong concept, workshops are a great way to discuss ideas with like-minded people and inspire your work into areas it may not otherwise go. By receiving feedback on our photographs in real-time, we can overcome creative struggles and encourage each other to progress. In my case, that was a foray into black and white to portray the city in a way that resonates with my perspectives rather than echo the work of others. And I used the rest of my three months in Turkey’s largest city to continue the endeavour.

Although some of my early photographic inspirations shot in black and white (Robert Frank, Daido Moriyama, and William Klein), up until now, I have been a colourist. I'm not sure why that is. Maybe the mod(ernist) in me had black and white down as something old-fashioned. And my education in documentary photography and reportage swayed me towards depictions closer to reality. But I was missing the point. Turning my backscreen and EVF to black and white got me to focus on uncluttered compositions and accentuate the light and shadow for mood and drama. It was a liberating experience. Without the distractions, visual noise and editing challenges that colour often brings, I was able to focus my attention on the narrative.

With this project, as with some of my others, my taste in music was an influence. The Reytons 2023 song, Istanbul, talks about plastic surgery tourism and the pressure on people to “change who they are.” Maybe with that song in my subconscious, I was primed to pay more attention to bandaged tourists and adverts for unnecessary surgical procedures. The trend gave me an entry point and raised an interesting duality. A city with a long history and decaying buildings attracts tourists who refuse to grow old. I worked on these contrasting ideas and found others.

Editing the final series was about balancing locality and customs with the core narrative. In this case, it was the nothing-to-lose mentality of some plastic surgery patients and how the influencer culture pervading our time makes aspects of Istanbul more cosmopolitan. Leaving out images I perceive to be good is always a challenge, but off-topic photographs, inconsistencies and unnecessary repetitions can dilute the message and weaken the overall.

Sequencing is like a puzzle. Moving pairs or groups of images around to communicate an idea or tell a story is an enjoyable and sometimes frustrating experience. For me, this process starts with pairings. Some photographs work together because their content acts as intellectual cues. Other times, pairs use compositions or emotional cues to complement or juxtapose. Double-page spreads are for images that require the viewer's full attention or have compositions that work well on either side of the fold. These concepts are not unique to black and white, but the process is simplified by not needing to consider colour theory and palettes.

The full-bleed work of William Klein influenced my layouts, which meant cropping some images originally shot in 3x2 to 4x5. However, I did not want to overuse this technique and decided that double-page spreads should include no more than two images, and only one should be full bleed. The intention was to give the photographs room to breathe and not overwhelm the viewer.

For post-processing, I use Adobe Lightroom and the Fujifilm Acros colour profile. Ordinarily, I apply my changes to the whole image. But, shooting black and white helped me understand the importance of masks and using the brush tool to accentuate parts of the image or make others less prominent. Applying a high-contrast aesthetic with the clarity and dehaze sliders represents the energy of a changing Istanbul.

Overall, I learned that black-and-white photography is more than just an artistic choice for a retro feel. By removing colours and the distractions they sometimes bring, we can help viewers focus on other aspects of the photograph, such as emotional or intellectual elements, composition, shapes, and texture. Shooting in black and white got me to notice and appreciate light more and think in terms of contrast and tonal range within the scene.

This zine contains 45 photographs and a 900-word essay and is published as a trade book on the Blurb website. With its glossy cover and uncoated 105 gsm pages, the trade format helps to convey the opposing elements within the narrative. It also allows me to have a 20x25 cm size, which I prefer.

To purchase or preview in full, click here.

---

Acknowledgements: Thanks go to the Raw Society founders Jorge Delgado-Ureña and Christelle Enquist for their generosity and expert knowledge during inception. And for their invaluable advice on the part that I find the most difficult - editing and sequencing. And thanks to the friends I made during that workshop - Pasquale, Paul, Ora, Gorazd, Chester and Ulas. By sharing their work, they inspired mine, and pushed me as a photographer to try new techniques and methods.

---