Istanbul: A City of a Hundred Names

Photographs by Alex Webb

Istanbul captured photographer Alex Webb’s imagination in 1998. Positioned between Europe and Asia, and caught between past and present, Turkey is a Muslim nation undergoing a major transition — and from Webb’s images we are able to understand how this evolving atmosphere kept him riveted throughout the years.

Webb is attracted to transition. He is drawn to Istanbul’s border-city quality. "Istanbul: City of a Hundred Names" is the photographic result of this obsession. For several years, he visited the city, photographing it through different lenses. We see it through the eyes of his adolescence and, later on, his growing maturity as a photographer.

Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus and is brimming with culture. Nearly 11 million residents fill the sprawling metropolis. While faithful to their city’s historic traditions, they also push forward social, economic and technological breakthroughs.

But Webb pushes past the easy stereotypes of the Middle East and searches for a more accurate perception by exploring the winding streets, neon-lit nightclubs and ferryboats of Istanbul. It is in these places he finds both beauty and desperation — an Istanbul that is wide and diverse and not easy to define.

His camera takes us down wide streets and past open store fronts, where women clothed in traditional chadors walk beside women dressed in jeans with loosely flowing hair. These streets transform at night and glow with neon lights.

But we see more than just street scenes and shops. He also takes us away from the chaos of the streets, to the outskirts of Istanbul, where he finds a group of young boys laying across a field of rocks. They bask in the sun amidst elderly couples. They are quiet and at peace.

These are intimate moments — ones that seem oblivious to his presence. But if we look carefully, we can see Webb isn’t the only observer. He does not go unnoticed.

In one photograph, people exit a boat and young children carry balloons. Initially, it appears that everyone is caught up in the moment. Yet if we look closer, we see the eye of a sole male sharply staring at us from above a bright pink balloon — and it reminds us that Webb himself is a visitor.

About Alex Webb

San Francisco-born photographer Alex Webb is an avid photojournalist whose work has been featured in New York Times Magazine, Life, Geo and National Geographic. He joined Magnum Photos in 1976 and has published six photography books, including "Crossings" and the limited edition "Crossings." He has also received numerous awards, including the 1988 Leopold Godowsky Color Photography Award.

About Orhan Pamuk

Orhan Pamuk is the author of the award-winning novel "Snow" as well as "My Name is Red" and "Istanbul." He lives in Istanbul and was named the Nobel Laureate in Literature in 2006. He is one of today’s most prominent and controversial writers.