JUNE 2024 · ESCAPE
Kuzgunguk - Istanbul
Kuzguncuk, Istanbul
The ferry crosses from Karaköy to the Asian side and Kuzguncuk is a ten-minute walk from the dock. The neighbourhood is small, wooden-fronted, and painted in colours that don't match and don't need to. Terracotta next to orange, yellow next to blue, all of it under large trees that shade the alleys enough that you can walk in mid-June without planning your route around shadows.
An electrical box is mounted on an orange and white building wall. A cat walks along the upper section of the same wall, above the box. Neither the cat nor the box is unusual here. The surfaces just have things on them.
A dog rests in a recessed black doorway, the frame ornate, the sides peeling white. A wooden storefront with a blue door has purple flowers arranged outside it, the stems going brown at the base. A courtyard has wooden tables and chairs with dried flowers — dark purple and blue — draped over them. The furniture isn't for show. It's between uses.
The city on the European side is always visible from here, which means you're always aware of having crossed to somewhere quieter.
Kuzguncuk — June 2024
The narrow cobblestone alley with Turkish flag hanging from a balcony is the kind of image every photographer takes here. I took it. The alleys are narrow enough that the flag fills the upper frame and the colour-block of orange and red houses fills the lower.
A sunlit square: burnt orange building, a single wooden chair, a tree casting sharp shadows across the wall behind. A yellow storefront with outdoor tables under a large plane tree, the trunk in the frame because it's too wide to avoid.
From the dock, looking back across the water: an orange and white industrial tugboat moored, the Istanbul cityscape spread behind it across the turquoise. The Maiden's Tower lighthouse rising from the Bosphorus, the red and white castle structure above the water. The city on the European side is always visible from here, which means you're always aware of having crossed to somewhere quieter.
Weathered electrical box mounted on orange and white building wall with cat walking across the upper section
Dog resting in ornate black recessed doorway with peeling white-painted sides
Narrow cobblestone alley lined with colorful wooden houses in orange, red, and white with Turkish flag
Terracotta and orange wooden houses facing street with parked cars and green ivy climbing walls
Yellow storefront with dark windows beneath orange house; wooden tables and chairs outside; large tree trunk
Tree-lined slope with colorful wooden houses in brown, blue, and orange cascading downward
Narrow driveway between houses with tall plane tree; white car parked; brick wall on right
Street-level storefront with scattered wooden furniture, chairs, flowers in buckets, and miscellaneous items
Cluttered courtyard with wooden tables and chairs draped with dark purple and blue dried flowers
Tree-shaded square with colorful storefronts; green and white striped awning; visitors walking past
Weathered wooden storefront with blue door and purple flower display; stone wall with climbing vines
Narrow pedestrian courtyard with ochre building facades and people walking between colorful structures
Vibrant yellow and bright blue wooden buildings with red shutters; thick green ivy crawling across walls
Sunlit square with burnt orange and red building; wooden chair and dark window; tree casting sharp shadows
Ochre and coral brick buildings enclosing courtyard with figure standing; period architecture detail
Ivy-draped colorful buildings with yellow and blue facades converging on shaded narrow passage
Maiden's Tower lighthouse with red and white castle structure rising from Bosphorus waters
Orange and white industrial tugboat moored at dock; Istanbul cityscape visible across turquoise water