Throughout history, Istanbul has been portrayed as an exotic place, the city where East and West meet, the gateway to Asia and the end of Europe. This view still resonates in western imaginary, where Istanbul is still a city moving between veils, harems and hammams. The city’s representations are mostly limited to the mosques, the noisy and smelly bazaars and the Bosphorus, in an attempt to keep it anchored to the past.
However, nowadays Istanbul isn’t that different from most big cities in the world: flagship stores, traffic jams, tourist hordes… It’s just another megalopolis where life goes by alien to its iconic landmarks.
“Mundane views” is a series reflecting Istanbul’s everyday life and exploring the concept of singularity in a global world where, in search of comfort and security, everything has become homogeneous. The pictures were taken in Istanbul, but they could be from almost any other city in the world.