Another Friend

My friend Ayse with her paintings and boyfriend. She is something of a young art-celebrity in Istanbul. You can see her works at this address.

At the Verge of Collapse

A huge apartment building in the Asian side of Istanbul stands deserted after being deemed unsafe for earthquake regulations. Now the haunt of graffiti artists and the homeless, such abandoned structures are haunting reminders of the great earthquake of 1999, where cheap construction and unplanned architecture murdered more than twenty thousand people.

Two Figures from Taksim

Being bound to a wheelchair hasn't stopped this man from having a good time on the streets of Taksim. Happy exceptions like him aside, Turkey is one of the least friendly places for disabled people.

Another figure, looking boldly into the future with a banner that proclaims the Armenien Genocide as "an imperialist lie!" He is a member of the Turkish Workers' Party, which sponsors a bizarre mix of Marxist leftist and ultra-nationalist ideas.

Young Turkish Punks

A punk concert in Taksim, circa 2004. The banners at the back say "We are against the war, damn the politics!" I don't know who this band was, but they might still be playing at one of Taksim's myriad bars and pubs.