Istanbul is a city of love, cheers, music, adrenaline, melancholy and desires. Though the city’s beauty has become a tourist attraction in recent years, I would say the true beauty emerges only if one surrenders to the city — if one settles with the constant chaos — and seeks to find love every single corner.
With Hagia Sophia staring at you on one side — with all of its beauty full of archaic fresco — and Galata Tower looking back at you, calling for a purge on all of the disruption within your soul, the city calls you; to accept its invitation is to surrender yourself. With a smell of history in every single stone you step, Istanbul is a country in itself with people across the globe and across every single spectrum imaginable, belonging to the people and no one else.
—Can Jozef Saul, staff photographer
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Kula (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)
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A seagull and the Hagia Sophia, from atop the Galata Tower (Eran Kohen Behar/Staff)Prinkipo Island (Buyukada): home for numerous non-Muslim minorities in Istanbul. A house of safety and tranquility. (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)
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A house in the Syrian Passage (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)
Rain reflection (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)Syrian Passage (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)
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Fisherman in Eminonu (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)“Cicek Pasaji” — Flower Passage — one of the most attractive complexes remaining from the 19th century. The passage is home for tavern lovers with its famous “Yorgonun Meyhanesi” — Yorgo’s Tavern (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)A cozy street with Hagia Sophia view (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)
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A tram on Istiklal Avenue. The tram station used to start from a tunnel that connected two districts, namely Karakoy and Taksim. The tunnel is the oldest subway infrastructure in the world. (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)
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Portrait of Zeki Muren (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)Classical chestnut sales on Istiklal Avenue (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)
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Bubbles (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)A person walking on Istiklal Avenue (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)
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One of the iconic horse carriages of Buyukada (Eran Kohen Behar/Staff)Şuayup Tea House with a bridge reflection (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)
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Ne deniz martıya ne martı denize küser. Bazen uzakta kalsa(k)lar da birbir(imizi)lerini bulur(uz)lar English: Neither a seagull quarrels the sea nor the sea quarrels a seagull. Though they might remain distant for a short while, they will always find each other. (Can Jozef Saul/Staff)
