Tracing Istanbul (from the air)

Istanbul, as seen through aerial photographs taken between 1992 and 2009. Edited by Oğuz Meriç and Meriç Öner. Published by Garanti Gallery, Istanbul, 2009.

Tracing Istanbul (from the air) presents a selection from thousands of aerial photographs taken by Oğuz Meriç between 1992 and 2009. This publication offers no touristic scenes of Istanbul with minarets or bridges. Oğuz Meriç’s photographs focus instead on documenting the transformation of this huge city, capturing its apartment buildings, office high-rises, gated communities, dockyards, factories, subway construction, excavation pits and highways. Aerial photographs have the potential to uncover the traces within constructed environments. Employing this unusual perspective, the book opens to discussion urban policies and practices; it also attempts to decipher the social fabric beneath the physical. The traces captured by individual photographs were discussed in three independent interviews that make up the text of the book. Comments by Deniz Aslan, Murat Güvenç and Pelin Derviş provide a critical approach to Istanbul’s recent past and current dynamics and disclose the structures behind the visible.

Graphic Design: Project Projects
Translation: Cem Akaş
To order online: Tracing Istanbul (from the air)
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