As a photographer, I don't know when I first discovered the black and white images of Turkish photographer Ara Guler.
His mastery of light haunted me, in a good way, from the first time I looked at his images of Old Istanbul, often in the old Armenian neighborhoods now long lost to development.
My first time in Istanbul, I sought out galleries with his images and came how with a few modern books of his work.
On my very recent trip, I bought so much of his work that I knew it wouldn't fit in the suitcase.
So I went to a shipping agent and spent about 300 Turkish Lira to ship his stuff home.
After that, I vowed to put the buying on hold for my last few days in the city.
Then I went to explore a hotel's wheelchair access, near Taksim Square.
As headed toward Taksim Gezi Park, beyond the square, I noticed a carnival of sorts set up.
As is common for Ramazan in Turkey, most public squares set up large areas for dinners, shows and activities for the sundown breaking of the long day's fast.
A paved area next to Gezi had a carnival of crafts, food and antiques set up.
Try as I might, I was drawn to a row of book sellers.
One had tons of photography books.
Were I a wealthy man, I would have bought out the whole tent and sent it home in trunks.
As I am not, I looked for a special Guler book.
One of trams caught my attention.
It was especially poignant, as the nostalgic tram that goes from Taksim to Tunel along Istiklal Caddesi had been ripped out and taken away since my last visit.
Orhan Pamuk often writes of the Tramway through old Pera.
I settled on the book, haggled...paid way less than the opening price but probably more than I should have.
Worse yet, it is a hard back. Meaning my book bag, already stuffed with a sweater and thousands of dollars worth of high end Nikon lenses, would feel like an army back pack.
But hours later, near sundown, my purchase would pay off.
link to great documentary about Guler
