Seven decades of Istanbul captured by Feruz Erturer |
Welcome back to AL-MONITOR Istanbul.
This week, we lounge in the afterglow of Valentine’s Day and the flurry of February openings across the city. At Bulgur Palas, Feruz Erturer’s seven-decade archive reminds us that cities are built not only of stone but of glances. In Karakoy, Sen’den revives old Istanbul recipes inside a restored building from the 1910s. Self-taught artists take over Metrohan, Sultanbeyli offers an elastic rethinking of Europe and Yapi Kredi Museum pairs shadow theater with contemporary memory.
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Nazlan (@NazlanEr on X)
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1. Leading the week: ‘Another World Where He Looked’
Erturer’s testimony of his hometown Adapazari and Istanbul (Photo courtesy of IBB Kultur)
On Istanbul’s seventh hill, where the restored halls of Bulgur Palas look out over domes and minarets, veteran photographer Feruz Erturer’s “Another World Where He Looked” gathers seven decades of witnessing Turkey and its human landscape.
Born in 1936 in Adapazari to a family of studio photographers, Erturer grew up among glass plates, enlargers and chemical trays. His father, known locally as Photographer Ahmet, was a traveling portraitist who would correct posture, adjust a collar and retouch negatives by hand. Erturer learned by watching. He later trained as a technical draftsman, worked for decades in public service, refereed national basketball games, fished the shores of Lake Sapanca and photographed throughout his life. The discipline of draftsmanship, the timing of sport and the patience of angling all quietly fed his frame.
Curated by Murat Gur and organized by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s IBB Culture and IBB Heritage, the exhibition is structured with clarity. The first floor traces formation: family archives, original negatives, darkroom equipment and reflections by fellow photographers Coskun Aral, Izzet Keribar and Ibrahim Zaman. A short documentary explores Erurer’s ever-adapting life.
Upstairs, around 70 photographs — selected from roughly 500, many shot on a Lubitel medium-format camera — carry the weight of memory, from Adapazari’s muddy streets to Istanbul ferry docks and children carrying huge loads at a popular bazaar. The recent high-resolution scans sharpen detail without sanding away the........