Istanbul II

Istanbul. The Grand Bazaar. Around 4000 street shops crapped into a small place. If you want to trade, you should go here. Ofcourse, bargaining is a must and always ask for prices at forehand.

One can spend hours here, not shopping, but just watching, enjoying the atmosphere, photographing around.


Istanbul I

Istanbul. Town of 17 mio people. That’s four times Croatia plus some more. Seventeen mio inhabitants! When will you ever find a moment for yourself? Traffic is flowing 24 hours a day, streets are filled with people. No peace, no space. Too much for me, but then, I am only a visitor and those few days I will manage.

The first morning walk leads me to an area where time stood still. I love this. One moment you’re swamped with millions of people and their modern life and the very next moment you’re thrown 50 years back…



portrait of gilles

Gilles is one of our international F&V specialists. I’m not sure what it is with this guys, but they burst with (positive) energy. The first specialist I met was Klaas. Great feelings about this guy, to bad I did not make a portrait of him.

Second specialist was Gilles. The moment he busted into our office, I knew I needed to photograph him. Happily he accepted the challenge.

Three seconds, window light and my reflector.


Selfie Project

During my latest trip, and being overloaded with images on social media, it appeared obviously that the mobile replaced the compact camera. Except for some amateur/pro photographers, almost nobody carries a camera anymore. Probably, #selfie is the most tagged hashtag on social media and I thought it would be funny to capture some of those selfie-photographers (is that a word?).

At first I was uncomfortable: one would probably notice I’m taking a picture, but somehow this was not the case. The selfie-photographer lives in his/her own world where is no space for unknown outsiders who did not send a friend request.

So, during my trip, I started hunting for those aiming their mobile on their selves and I must admit, it is a rather funny thing to do. Next to pure ‘selfies’, I captured some interesting moments of people photographing each other. Let’s start with that.

What I like about the above images, that all have a story. Look at them, and wonder, what is going on? For example, in the second image, the girl on the right, what is she photographing? What about the cats in the third image? What will be their next move? I really love it when images leave something to wonder …


Anyway, the Selfie Project. A series of images of so-called selfie-photographers taken where-ever I encounter them. There will be now rules, I can shoot with whatever camera I have, I can crop, I can edit to my liking. No rules. Of course, those who will make it to the final gallery, should be interesting. I guess it will be a never-ending project, which is quite ok. Let’s start with the first few from Cappadocia, Turkey.


Cappadocia VI

Cappadocia. The last post, I promise. When in Cappadocia, one should try to fly with a balloon, it will be a once-in-a-life-experience and though short, it was great. Sadly, our bus arrived slightly late, leaving me little time to photograph the preparations, but probably, I was the only one worried about this. 

The amount of balloons is amazing, and in each balloon fit up to 15-20 people, so it is quite an organization to get the right people in the right balloon in the right time. Obviously, the locals are used to this as all went rather smoothly.

The preparations are hectic and noisy, but great to see as slowly all balloons are getting shape. Within half an hour, all is ready and we’re ready to board and then, off we go.

I must admit, the moment the captain turns down the gas, and the noise disappears, the moment you are floating, is amazing. It is great. Now I understand why people wants to be a bird and fly. With airplanes this feeling I never had, but, this day the experience was wonderful.

However, too short. After a mere 90 minutes we’re preparing for touch down again. Back to reality.


Cappadocia V

Cappadocia. The last day. Touring around the country with a rented car. Traffic is amazing, chaos, yet friendly. I am not used to this anymore, as in Croatia one drives aggressive,  only caring about him-/herself and not bothering to give in a tiny bit to someone else. Anyway, back to Cappadocia: some more caves and the houses. Caves are great to live in as the temperature is steady (around 16 degrees) throughout the year whereas outside various from -20 in winter to +45 in summer.


Cappadocia IV

Tiles. You either like them or you don’t care. I am in the first group. I like tiles and I admire the handcraft and patience which goes into it to create them. Same is for pottery. It’s a craft which should be admired. In Cappadocia you can find lots of local craftsman creating art on tiles, so if you happen to be in Cappadocia and like tiles, use the opportunity to visit one of the local factories / shops.



Cappadocia III

Cappadocia. Amazing landscape. Above and below. Around 1960 a huge underground city has been discovered in Cappadocia. The city was a hiding place for about 2000 people. Christians. Hiding for the Romans. War. Will it ever end? Sadly, probably not. Mankind doesn’t seem to learn about this. We are discovering all kind of amazing things, improving life as it is, but the killing remains. The wars are still here. Silly us.

Anyway, the underground, a small narrow place. A hiding place for 2000 refugees. But, with a winery. First things first.

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