Balat neighborhood.
Only last Sunday he shot up to 2,000 times the camera of him walking the streets of his city, istanbul . In every corner, house or street he finds a story to tell, and he always sees them in full color. "Photos are nothing more than moments in a person's life," he tells Traveler.es.
mustafa tayfun He has been on Instagram since 2014 but he started getting serious about photographing his city two years later when he started receiving messages from people who were shocked by his photos.
The question he has received the most in all this time has been "is this Istanbul?".
“I am the one who wants to look for the differences. I always think that the part of Istanbul that appears is that of a historical city, with memories that housed civilizations that discovered past places. In the future there are many things that we can discover and I am going after them ”, this young graphic designer stresses to Traveler.es.
An Istanbul, different?
Istanbul is an ancient city that hosts the passage of numerous civilizations, so it is curious to see that it can also be very cosmopolitan, fresh and, although we already knew this, Full of color.
Let's just say Mustafa's favorite part, the one he usually gets lost for, is on the call. "European area", in neighborhoods such as the Albanian colony, Arnavutkoy , or in Ortakoy , the bohemian neighborhood of the Bosphorus, and Beykoz , the neighborhood just north of the Bosphorus.
In addition to the bustling neighborhood of Beşiktas or the commercial area of the neighborhood of Taksim . “My favorite places in Istanbul are Arnavutkoy and Bebek because it has a very mystical atmosphere, old houses, cafes the sea on the other side of the Çamlıca Mosque ... You also find the most beautiful restaurants in the city. It invites you to see the Bosphorus in this historical part of Istanbul”, he comments.
We asked him where he would take a newcomer to the city. and these are some of his recommendations.
I would surely dedicate a visit and photo to the Galata Tower , built in the 14th century, and contemplate it from the terrace of the Galata Times Boutique Hotel or walk around. I would enjoy a steakhouse in the neighborhood of Zeyrek Boran , next to the mosque, and have a coffee with typical sweets in the Grand Bazaar Zincirli Han, fundamental part of the living history of Istanbul.
I would have dinner at tavern (meyhane) Safa to taste the specialty of raki fish and would end up having cocktails in his favorite neighborhood, Arnavutkoy . If you have a sweet appetite, Mustafa recommends heading to the neighborhood of Yenikoy to try some good waffles.
But there are many more places unknown to the vast majority of tourists in the city. For example, walking through the neighborhood of Sultanahmet , next to the Saint Sophia Cathedral and the Blue Mosque. There he points to a particularly interesting place, Seven Hill Sultanahmet Restaurant and the Sultanahmet Ambassador Hotel , both with good views from the top of the city.
To find the location of the houses that appear in the cover photo of the article, Mustafa guides us to the Balat neighborhood , a multicultural place where Greeks, Armenians and Jews have lived together, full of cobbled streets, cafes and colorful houses.
To watch the sunset in the city, his favorite location (or one of many) is Kız Kulesi - Maiden's Tower.
Historical places? Another infinite list... Some of them are the Palace of Magnura , the Topkapi Palace , the Beylerbeyi Palace , and of course, the Suleymaniye Mosque.
If you are thinking of visiting Istanbul soon, do not lose sight of it.