I was very lucky to photograph the birthday party in a lovely family, in a lovey area, for the birthday of a lovely kid. Should I mention we all had a lovely time ;)?
Family, laughs, gifts, balloons and cake, everything was here to make this day outstanding!
I can't wait for the next birthday's celebration!
I love Istanbul for so many reasons and one of them is snow!
I was once asked "don't you have 30 degrees all year long here?" by freezing tourists... Hmm no. Snow does come to Istanbul at least once a year and when it comes, it adds to the city more magic (yes, it is possible!).
Snow arrived on Friday night and a white coat recovers the city since then. To be able to discover the city under snow, you need to be a bit brave! Not speaking about the tons of layers to stay warm, but about the sloppy slippery streets all over town! But once you managed to gain confidence on your steps, then you can look up at the beauty of the white city. Is it not worth being outdoor? So peaceful, so soft, so quiet. OK, I have to admit that on Saturday morning, 2/3 of the people outside were photographers :).
I went out on Saturday and Sunday (for a family photo session! Who called me crazy :)? ) and I just loved every moment of my walks in Sultanahmet and Süleymaniye areas. I think I'll go out today again to check out how is Ortaköy.
For now, enjoy and don't hesitate to share :D!
When Sophie first asked me about a family photo session, I was very happy and excited about it. She told me she wasn't into "classic" family portraits, not a fan of smooth and "clean" images. She wanted something different, images taking sides, emotions and the reality of their family & of Istanbul as they love it. That was perfect as it’s exactly what I do as a lifestyle photographer.
She helped to understand what she had on her mind, sending me examples of images she likes. She came up with Vivian Maier, Sally Mann & Alice Springs. I have to admit I was petrified 🤣.
I let myself go with the flow, step by step. Setting up a date & a meeting time. Picking up a starting place and a route. Speaking with the kids on the phone about their likely apprehensions and doing my best to ease them. Getting my equipment ready.
On an early morning of October, we meet in Kadiköy & we took the ferry back to European side.
Everybody had a great time during the photo session. The family seemed to forget about me & to have a great family quality time, enjoying places they love, having fun together.
After the session, the editing & processing done, I sent the images to Sophie.
Sophie called me right after she discovered their images. She told me how much she was happy, amazed & touched by them. On the very same evening, she made a short selection & wrote a post on Facebook about them. I felt so happy and proud. So happy they were happy with their fresh visual heritage. So proud I managed to create lifetime memories.
Here are her words:
"I didn't think this family photo session (walking in different neighborhoods of Istanbul) would touched me that much... Beyond our will to have beautiful images, those hours with Noemie will remain a strong family experience.Caring, professional and always a few steps away, Noemie gave us the necessary space to preserve our spontaneity and gave us the chance to have a great day, emotionally, culturally and humanly speaking.
Thanks to her artistic eye and her sensitivity, she created a series of incredibly touching and beautiful images. I want to thank her again for this wonderful moment, captured for a lifetime by her talent. Because Istanbul will remain the adventure of our lifetime, because she managed to capture what makes us unique and because she sublimated that special day thanks to her work, Noemie will be with us until our old days, when we will tell about our Istanbul adventure."
Thank you so much Sophie!
A maternity photo session is always very special, just as unique as the new baby the family is waiting for. When it's combined with a family session, it becomes ever more touching, witnessing and capturing the lovely family interactions and true love.
I'm always doing my best to make everybody feel confortable during a photo session. When it comes to kids, at time, parents can help me with patience, laughs, even games.
Sometimes, toddlers are in not such a good mood. It happens, it's life. During this session, the little Melissa just didn't want pictures of her to be taken . We had to negotiate to make it happen, and once we were on tracks, it went just fine and we all keep a great memory of this photo session!
When my friend Mandy told me she was going to work for a "défilé" during the fashion week, I was so proud of her. I felt it was one more step for her, the result of talent and hard work. And it had to be photographed.
I was more than happy to document this incredible moment; to capture my friend in our own world: hairdressing, beauty, perfection and professionalism.
For the designer, the fashion week is the end of a long process. She finally presents to the public the result of her hard work with her team. Now that the clothes are done, the finishing line relies more on others' work. Models, hairdressers, make-up artists, lights technicians, DJ.... Everyone has to do his-her job no less than perfectly, for a crucial 5-minute show. So what can be more exciting and challenging than that?
Fashion isn't my thing, it's not my dream work environment. But there is some kind of magic in fashion. And even more when the défilé takes place in such an amazing hotel as the Pera Palace.
So enjoy the show :)!
PS: Mandy's studio is in Maçka, Beşiktaş. You can follow her work on Facebook and Instagram. Find out further details on her website: www.mandyguerin.com
When I first met Caroline, about one year ago, I thought -and still think- that she was a beautiful woman, yet she seemed not to aknowledge it. I remember thinking she might be a dancer. From the light steps she was taking, and the way she hold her head. Soft and discreet.
So when Caroline came up with a project dear to her heart, I felt very touched and excited. Such a great combination of 2 things I cherish: beauty and love.
We needed to meet up early morning, as the sun was rising and shining hard even in the morning. We went to 4 different places: the 1st being very much graphical, the 2nd being much more "natural", the 3rd being beautifully Ottoman and the 4th being more modern.
4 places, 3 outfits, 2 women, 1 city.
Thanks to Caroline, who chose me to capture her "alaturka-ballet"-self and thanks to Istanbul being Istanbul, that session has a special place in my memories and in my heart. .
The summer light brings out the brightest colors, and going on vacations in Nice and Corsica gave me the chance to see such a wide range of blues. I have to say I was feeling quite blue, after the attack in Nice and the coup in Turkey. But all the beauty I could see around me, in this mediterranean environment, helped me to focus what I love: to photograph.
Istanbul has something more, a little something hard to define with words. Maybe it's the love I feel for that city that I simply can't define.
I often say that Istanbul is like a man. A man I felt in love with at first sight. Then I discovered aspects I didn't like, some stuffs that annoyed me. But like a man, I knew I couldn't change that city, could I? So, as within a relationship, I had to decide rather I really wanted to be here, to live here. The answer was and is still "yes".
I'm not going to write anything after the latest events in Turkey. Not the right place.
For now, I just want to show you pictures I took during the Holy month of Ramazan. Such a special time for Muslims. Such a special time in Istanbul. Enjoy.
Istanbul, like most of the megalopolis, is a huge melting-pot. it had been that way for centuries and centuries. Nowadays, people, coming from all over the world, live here. Sometimes, Turkey isn't the first foreign country where those "yabanci" choose to live, and Istanbul may be only a few-years stop. But it seems there will be a "before-Istanbul" and an "after-Istanbul" for those who will keep on their journey in another part of the globe.
I've met Anna through a common friend. She is Italian, married to an Italian man and they have a beautiful little girl. They did spend many years in Vietnam before coming to Istanbul.
Like me, they think that it is important to create memories of special moments of our lives. Even if this special "moment" began 3 years ago and there is no plan to leave Istanbul yet. That's what I loved about this session: the simple statement "US being HERE" is a good reason for a photo session".
I was very happy when Anna got in touch with me for this family photo session, thankful for her trust and for this opportunity to capture their happiness here, in an environment they love. To be honest, the photo session had a special occasion: Anna's birhday :). Thank you again Anna!
After difficult personal issues, I needed something new to discover, something new to photograph. A small trip out of Istanbul, just for 2 days, not too far, quiet and with a nice photographic potential.
Edirne…. Yes! Edirne is definitely a destination that fits into a 2 day-getaway with only 2,5 hours of bus from Istanbul. Edirne used to be the Ottoman capitale city and it is very closed to the present Greek boarder.
Visual treasures are easy to find over there: amazing mosques, ancient wooden houses, green landscapes and rivers. Yes, definitely, Edirne was a perfect destination to have a fresh look on how beautiful Turkey is.
Here are some of the pictures I took. Enjoy!
I guess you already looked at your family album pictures, and laughed about your dad’s hair cut when he was 18 or your mom’s outfit in the 80’s. For me, photo albums are part of my life, my past, my family’s history. Like a patrimony, a highly emotional patrimony.
My mother passed away 3 months ago. Today, exactly 3 months ago. Gosh, we didn’t expect her to end her life in this world so fast. Neither did she, I guess. My sister and I took the time to go through our family photo albums. Four generations on paper. Brown-yellowish old photo paper, discolored images, even some serrated shapes. Paper.... Those are so much more than paper.
Those are cherished moments. Those are everyday’s life moments. Those are my past, a part of me. As my family history, those are my heritage, the symbol of who I am now.
There are some pictures I can’t look at now. My mother’s, especially. It hurts so much, it’s unbearable. But I know, for sure I know, that one day, I’ll look at them and smile. I actually can’t wait for that day to come.
For now, I look at some of them and remember. And numerous memories are coming back. My grandmother’s perfume, the traditional Christmas movies we watched all together, my favorite sweater, the games my sister and I played in the living room. I love to see my parents when they just got married, my grandparents where they were ‘young’, my uncles and aunts when they were my current age. And I love to re-discover the bathroom in the first flat I lived in, the outfits I was wearing when I was 12, the school pictures during primary school.
I also know that we are lucky my dad was into photography during our childhood. Those moments had been captured and they have travelled through time because they were printed out. Because our « physical » memory cannot hold each and every moment of our lives, those pictures are able to open new doors into our brain. To remember moments we thought were lost, and to learn about your past.
Of course, as I am a photographer, you might think that my point of view is biased. Please, think twice. I'd be very happy if my words make you go and find one of your photo albums, and then smile at your past. Or make you look for digital images from your last summer vacation, kept on your computer and create a photo album. Or you might want to call up a photographer to create those lifetime memories.
What is gone is gone. And what is captured and printed out becomes a lifetime memory for you and your family.
And the value of this is limitless.
PS: I chose to only post pictures of me, as a kid, to respect my family's privacy.
Every month of April, Istanbul gets a bit more magical. "How on earth, is it possible?" you may wonder. It is possible and it's thanks to the "Lale Festivali" (the Tulip festival).
Tulips are often thought to be from Holland. It's still quite unknown that tulips are originally from Turkey. They are, indeed, one of the symbols of Turkey and you can find easily tulips drawn on decorative tiles and ceramic plates. Some even see a tulip shape in the famous turkish tea glass!
I love to go to Gülhane, on a weekday, and enjoy colors, shapes and textures of those beautiful flowers. I take my time to walk around, getting used to those incredible bright colors. During the week, the park is "empty" compared to weekend days so I can photograph those flowers quietly. I always have a great time over there, looking for the perfect flower, or the beautiful shadow that a petal creates on another one. I'm on my own world, a world of details and beauty. Have you ever taken a close look at a tulip petal? So thin, so fragile, so delicately textured. And even when they begin to fade a bit, they keep on looking lovely: some almost look like poppies, opened to the sun.
I just love this time of the year!
