Alex Webb: Istanbul [Hardcover]

Orhan Pamuk (Author), Alex Webb (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2007

In Istanbul: City of a Hundred Names, Magnum photographer Alex Webb displays his particular ability to distill gesture, color and contrasting cultural tensions into a single, beguiling frame. He presents a vision of Istanbul as an urban cultural center, rich with the incandescence of its past--a city of minarets and pigeons rising to the heavens during the early-morning call to Muslim prayers--yet also a city riddled with ATM machines and clothed in designer jeans. Webb began photographing Istanbul in 1998, and became instantly enthralled: by the people, the layers of culture and history, the richness of street life. But what particularly drew him in was a sense of Istanbul as a border city, lying between Europe and Asia. "For 30-some years as a photographer, I have been intrigued by borders, places where cultures come together, sometimes easily, sometimes roughly." The resulting body of work, some of Webb's strongest to date, conveys the frisson of a culture in transition, yet firmly rooted in a complex history. With essay by the Nobel Prize winning novelist, Orhan Pamuk.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Istanbul: City of a Hundred Names documents his incredible vision of this border city, lying between Europe and Asia, an urban cultural center rich with the incandescence of its past." --Photo District News

"Illuminating and enlightening." -- Jake Elliot --Flux Magazine

"Webb uses color and a sense of moment to reveal a rich, complex world created from clashing cultures." --American Photo

"He captures the city's vibrant colors, but in a completely unsentimental way; in fact, the overall mood is one one of hüzün, the Turkish word for melancholy and spiritual yearning." -- Sarah Coleman --Planet Magazine

"His pictures are all deep shadows balanced by theatrical flashes of light; his framing captures both burqa-clad crones and pouting models." -- Michael Kerr --The Telegraph

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: Aperture; First edition (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597110345
• ISBN-13: 978-1597110341
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 10.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #732,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Great Street Photography Books, July 19, 2007

By 

Frizzante - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alex Webb: Istanbul (Hardcover)

I visited Istanbul in 1988, almost 20 years ago. It was a visit that left me in awe of the uniqueness, beauty and complexity of this historic and important city. It is a great pleasure to have revisited Istanbul, this time not actually, but through exceptional photographs of Alex Webb.

The photographs are not only evocative of the real life of the streets, but are depictions of people going about the daily lives with very little awareness of their being photographed. Alex Webb's level of skill in composition and timing is of the highest order. His ability to work unnoticed is incredible.

The photographs are followed by a most thought provoking essay by Nobel Laureat and Istanbul resident Orhan Pamuk. I found the text so interesting that I have ordered his book on Istanbul as well.

Be aware that Alex Webb's photos have remarkable visual richness, with multiple layers of foreground and background. The possess great vibrancy of colour, honestly caught human expression and a busy city's sense of action and movement. I would recommend spending some time on each photo to draw out the vast offering of information and emotion within each one.

Well worth the purchase; particularly if you have visited Istanbul, or long to go there.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars familiar faces and corners..., May 28, 2007

By 

Bahadir Kargili - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alex Webb: Istanbul (Hardcover)

Alex Webb has done a great job for sure.As an ameteur photographer living in Istanbul for all my life ,I enjoyed the photos so much that i gave myself permission to see maximum 3 photos per day.here's why;
I found lots of familiar sights with different tastes.So different that i see almost everyday of my life. I think Mr.Webb's success in this book is based on his experince on his photograpy skills, his full understanding of a nation, its values( such as the flag's importance for us, Ataturk-the founder of our republic), religion (the scarf and people), history, architecture, sociology and culture.
The photos are being shot in a wide range of time during Mr.Webbs's visits to Turkey.On the other hand ;
To be honest Mr.Pamuks(2007 literature nobel prize winner) essays are unlucky to be in this book just because the phots tell everything that no words are necessary to fill in the blanks.
As i mentioned in my review that the book has so familiar daily sights from my life that,i've found a woman i knew in one of his photos ,shot at 2001 while she was waiting a bus in the bus stop.She was really surprised to be in this book as she didnt feel anyone shooting eventhough she remembers the day so clear that day.Mr.Webb found the real light of Istanbul and that day it was 07:00 in the morning.We decided together that we ll ask for a signed copy from Mr.Webb by a letter or email.
Thank you Mr.Webb for these magnificent shots and for pushing me to go out and shoot again in the city i belong.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars mysterious, sad and beautifiul at the same time, May 10, 2007

By 

bosphorus "bosphorus" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alex Webb: Istanbul (Hardcover)

I looked at it many times. Webb has a style of his own and repeats himself throughout the book. In one single photograph, you can't see it all, but overall it works, and absolutely remarkable. He touches areas of the City that a lot of phtographers shun. Mysterious, sad and beautiful at the same time -- very much like "huzun" which Orhan Pamuk's delicate article elaborates, giving us a deeper understanding, wider perspective. The real, machine like city underneath the glamour and all. I felt Webb encourages photographers documenting all, and so raw. He cuts off his portraits -- you can't see all, mystifying, and it truly works.