Everywhere Workshop: Photographers come together to document backstreets of İstanbul

These are some of the views from the back streets of İstanbul. And these days, you may see hundreds of young people, cameras in hand, congregating on the sidewalks and touring the streets looking for the perfect shot. Why? To capture some new images of the same city they have lived in and become accustomed to over the years. This group of amateur and professional photographers is one you may come across any weekend in İstanbul.

You may notice three people holding walkie-talkies and cameras and heading up this group. They are Özkan Yılmaz, Cihan Sarı and Eser İskender, three friends who have worked together and combined their ideas and energy to see the “Her Yer Atölye,” or “Everywhere Workshop,” launched last November turned into actual projects. One of these projects is the İstanbul Seven Hills workshop, a project in which the seven hills of İstanbul are photographed over the course of seven different days. The aim of this project is multifaceted: to uncover parts of a city lost to history, to re-photograph some streets that have been forgotten over time and to break down the idea that the only good photographs are ones taken abroad. The first step that this group took was to create an Internet site. They then broadcast news of their work over social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Then they took their cameras out of their cases and headed for the streets. Their first stop was the Edirnekapı Ayvansaray hill. Here they explored the streets, taking hundreds of photos. This first day of this particular project did not go quite as well as they had expected, with rainy weather scaring off many of the participants.

Last weekend was the second meeting of this workshop, which came together to explore the Fener and Balat districts. We joined them for this meeting and set out together to see the sights. We got into some great conversations, too, as we walked around with our cameras at the ready. The group leader, Yılmaz, is a computer engineer who has been curious about photography ever since he was little. He tells us about his family, which immigrated years ago to Turkey from the Balkans, and notes that his interest in photography was passed down to him from his father. Until this project, though, Yılmaz never really allowed his true curiosity about photography to take center stage in his life. Yılmaz believes that İstanbul is the ideal spot for photography, having such a rich history and having hosted so many empires.

The Everywhere Workshop does not just limit itself to İstanbul when it comes to photography. Last month, the group headed to Eskişehir, Bursa and Bolu. They decided to go by train, not to save money but because train trips are, they believe, the ideal way to get great shots of their surroundings. Yılmaz believes that there is really nowhere, no moment, no second, that isn’t potentially great material for a photograph. And now he is determined to see his group’s photographs exhibited, a task the group has started by setting aside the best samples of their shots with plans to have them exhibited as soon as they are ready.

Last week, a folder containing information about the Everywhere Workshop’s work and project was sent to the İstanbul Municipality, and permission and support were received from the Culture Directorate for the group to put on its own exhibition.

In addition, Canon also took a look at the project and has declared its intent to support the work, even lending group participants cameras to use. These developments have, of course, placed even more responsibility on the group leaders for this workshop.

We keep walking with the group as the day gets later and later. We stop somewhere to eat and then head out again into the backstreets. Many in the group hold maps showing where they mean to go. As we walk, we speak with Sarı, one of the project coordinators. He has been taking photos professionally now for the past decade. His interest in photography began in university and no doubt is connected to the fact that he studied city planning while a university student. Sarı is very pleased with the advances he has seen take place in this particular project and notes that it is an added pleasure that a group where people can expand on their personal interests and develop their skills like this has been formed.

One point all these group leaders note is that this group and ones like it have allowed people, who aren’t otherwise able to spend much free time on hobbies they enjoy due to work responsibilities, come together and socialize. As we keep on conversing, we note that the group, though it started with about 100 people or so, has dwindled down over the hours to about 30. Of course, part of the reason the group has become smaller is that many people are lagging behind, trying to carefully capture images that strike them. Some families react angrily, for example, when they see someone standing outside their home and readying themselves to take a photograph, while others pose in the windows of their homes when they find out what is happening. The group gets lots of questions, of course, especially from children in the street, which they do answer as they wander and take their photos. Don’t think everyone in this group works in a job that is related to photography; there are a diverse range of professions represented, from nurses to engineers, from architects and to students.