The history of Istanbul is written on its monuments, in the museum of Hagia Sophia the sacred symbols of Christianity coexist with the Muslims as an example of tolerance and civilization for the whole world.

The area of Sultanahmet, where Hagia Sofia is located, is also where most of the ancient city monuments are: Topkapi, the Byzantine Cistern of the Yerebatan Saray Basilica, the Blue Mosque, the National Archaeological Museum, the Grand Bazaar; these are just few of the most famous monuments that deserve a visit.

The local little Markets, the Port of Eminonu, the Armenian Kurdish neighborhood of Balat, the University, or the well-known area of Taksim and Istkal Caddesi, are just few of the other must-seen places of this city. Eminonu is the area of the port and the crucial point between the two shores of the Bosphorus, here in the ìGolden Hornî every night at dusk, the light goes quickly down, and the sky above the bridge turns pink. Here at sunset the view is magnificent, when the signs of the restaurants are turned on they draw coloured beams of light on the water channel; following them your eyes will meet the nearby austere silhouette of the Yamii Mosque.

Every evening sellers of stuffed mussels place their stalls along the Galata Bridge, trading among people and spreading the air with a wonderful smell of fish. The roads of Istanbul are not just a place for walking or running, but a place to meet, play ball, search for coolness in the sultry summer evenings; it is also a place for trading where people sell all sorts of merchandise. In the old bazaar modern merchandise coexists ancient professions, such as blacksmiths producing the copper crescent moon, and sellers of T-shirts and souvenirs and tourism-related new occupations. Two aspects of the city that seem to live together perfectly.

Women and girls glance discreetly at the shop windows full of western clothes. A young girl just out of a bridal shop seems to have been rapt in thought, her gaze lost over the horizon beyond reality. Her head carries the signs of the ancient culture and her mind the desire for emancipation, a wish common among most of the young Turks.

If you missed it on the TV then you can watch it again via BBC iPlayer – http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pwsns/The_Man_Who_Shot_the_60s/

Just click on the link that you will see at the bottom of each post. Hope you like this new feature.

For more details about Matt Brandon, check out his web site at – http://www.thedigitaltrekker.com/

‘In Gurus We Trust” was a story which started with a question. How can I understand India without approaching its mystic and its spirituality?

All the people that I met during my previous reports in India seemed to have a Guru. From the farmer in Orissa to the surgeon in Bangalore, all were at some point characterized as someone who dispels spiritual ignorance and were looking for spiritual illumination. I guess my French catholic background was disturbed by all this transcendental knowledge, but at the end the goal was to consider God as immanent and at the heart of everything.

Gurus serve as guides on the tortuous roads of the truth, and allow us to reveal more quickly the divine nature of every being. Gurus are the links between God and the people but obviously in India you prostrate to the one who introduces you to god. The importance of finding a guru who can impart transcendental knowledge is emphasized in Hinduism.

“The love is not a feeling, the love is in you”
said Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a powerful guru for the top class of the Indian society.

Gurus can be a master to three fellows or to several million. During the Amritanandamayi’s 40th birthday, a female guru,  400 000 Indians were in the main stadium of Trivandrum to celebrate this event.

This photographic adventure was a fascinating experience. I learned that it is the follower who makes the Gurus, and not the opposite.

News of the quake spread quickly around the world and was a headline story for a time, centering of on the town of L’Aquila, where the epicenter of the quake struck. The story in the UK at least ran for perhaps 3 days but failed to really cover the fact that the quake also affected many of the surrounding towns and villages many of which are still suffering today. In all about 70,000 people were affected and even today it is estimated that a frighteningly high proportion of that number remain homeless.

L’Aquila itself continues to effectively be a no go area, the authorities turning people away who try to get in to the centre. On the outskirts, as with many of the surrounding towns and villages, thousands of people are still living in tents, their livelihoods along with many of their loved ones have been lost, and those that do remain are left traumatized by not only the earthquake but the events that have unfolded since. Although a great deal has already been done to help, the promises of assistance from the Italian government are yet to really make a difference for most, whether this is simply the enormity of the task, the famous Italian bureaucracy at work, or more probably empty promises put forward by politicians, who can really say. What is known is that at the time of writing winter is setting in and snow is starting to fall in the region, especially in and around L’Aquila, one of the highest cities in Italy, not any time to be living in a tent.

Guido Gazzilli visited the region during the days after this terrible event and shot the images in this piece, later this month he will visit again to see the situation several months on and we will be updating this feature with his findings.

A unique series of videos on street photography in 3 parts. Many thanks to Chris Weeks for allowing Reportage to feature this series.

PART I

Street Photography: Documenting the Human Condition – Part One of Three from Chris Weeks on Vimeo.

PART II

Street Photography: Documenting the Human Condition – Part Two of Three from Chris Weeks on Vimeo.

PART III

Street Photography: Documenting the Human Condition – Part Three of Three from Chris Weeks on Vimeo.

For the western European pupils, the opportunity to work with leading teachers and choreographers from Warsaw, Minsk and Lviv ballet companies, such as Lviv Ballet’s choreographer and soloist Serguei Najenko, and pedagogue Galina Kleshchova, is a unique one. And for the young visiting Slavs, a new world also opens – the students from the Russian tradition are trained intensely in classical ballet, and are incomparably good at it, but they have more limited contact with other genres and contact with the western schools begins to feed their interest in more modern dance idioms. Whether classical or modern, dance is, like photography, a visual art, a language that transcends words and national borders.

The young students take the performances every bit as seriously as adults in professional ballet companies – if anything with even greater concentration and backstage nerves. The professionals after all perform several times a week, whereas for the students a major performance may come round only once a year.

The images look at the moment that the ballet students from different nations lose themselves in the stress of the performance, the preparations and build up, the pain of training and injury, and the nervous waiting in between bouts of intense activity. By the time of the performance the dancers are totally absorbed and unguarded from the camera.

All images copyright © Simon Crofts
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All images copyright © James Morgan
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