Ghosts in the city by Yavuz Sariyildiz

Istanbul, a huge city, where millions live in it. Each in his own way and of course always in a rush. We call this city home but some call it ‘chaos’ as a well-known phrase says. One of us is a ghost to the other.

Our own worries and the burden of this city push us away from each other. But there are such landmarks that easily remind us of where we live; a vast and ancient history. A history that we can't see in the midst of chaos and even if we see it, we do not care.

This photograph is the first example of a photographic project that will continue for several months. It's part of an ongoing work that firstly highlights the iconic architectural structures of Istanbul. Galata Tower is one of them.

While trying to reflect this, I chose the long exposure method as a way to make these people, who have no other problems than trying to live in this difficult city, a secondary subject but a ghost.

In this photo, I used a 10-stop ND filter, moved the tripod as close to the ground as possible and tilted the camera up a bit so that I could show the people as larger ghosts in the foreground. Once I found the right exposure for the scene (using a histogram) I took many pictures and the result was this photo of where the young man was and the moment when the curtain closed was my chance.