| There
is no other city like it on earth. Between East and West, Asia and Europe,
past and present, Islam and Christianity, water and land, the city rises
as a massive virtual palimpsest, embodying all of these meanings, mysteries,
and contradictions. For a flaneur, that curious conception of a passionate observer who wanders and watches keenly, caught up in the endless fascinations of exploring the labyrinthine streets and delving into the infinity of details which creates and defines the unique character of a cityscape, Istanbul is, perhaps, the most intriguing of subjects. I sought a particular state of mind in Istanbul: a sense of deep calm and peace amidst the dynamism of a teeming metropolis, a sense of timelessness and retreat from the banality of international modernity, a sense of being amongst layers upon layers of history, symbolism and paradoxes, a sense of uplifting urban and architectural greatness, a sense of haunting silences, shadows on timeworn stone, poetry in light and spaces. After all, what is the exotic, but that which one hungers for in vain during the familiar routine of daily existence? |