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The Many Faces Of Istanbul

There is no end to Istanbul’s writers, poets, painters and photographers, for the simple reason that the story of this city is never ending.

‘İstanbul’un Yüzleri’ is a series of books that bring together 100 each of the city’s writers, painters, poets and photographers as well as its architectural monuments, lost and still standing. The title is a play on the word ‘yüz’, which means both ‘face’ and the number 100. The first volume in the series, ‘100 Istanbul Painters’, features depictions of the city on canvases large, small and in between. All the city’s painters, from miniaturists Matrakçı Nasuh and Nakkaş Osman through the Italian Zonaro and the early 20th century İbrahim Çallı right up to Bedri  Rahmi and Devrim Erbil, are in this book.  The second volume in the series, ‘100 Istanbul Photographers’, includes black-and-white, sepia and color photographs of the city as seen through the lenses of the masters of this art since its inception.

Beginning with Lâtifî and ending with Ali Bilir,  ‘100 Istanbul Writers’ meanwhile offers photographs, biographies and excerpts from the works of the writers featured. Included in the volume is everyone from from Evliya Çelebi, Ahmet Mithat Efendi, Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar and Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil to Peyami Safa, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar and Sait Faik Abasıyanık, as well as contemporary writers such as Hilmi Yavuz and Orhan Pamuk.

The last two books of the series, ‘100 Lost Istanbul Monuments’ and ‘100 Istanbul Roman and Byzantine Monuments’, are in the nature of reference books on the city’s numerous forgotten architectural structures.