far from the madding crowd
Istanbul, March 2011.
I joined my friend on her morning jog from Taksim to the Old City early one morning in Istanbul. I was anxious to watch the city rise and catch the fisherman on Galata bridge at the beginning of their day. There was a gentle hum of conversation and laughter as they turned to glance over their shoulder at the strange blond foreigner shooting photos of them – they seemed amused by this seemingly misplaced interest in their fishing routine. But the scene they set was beautiful – their cluster of fishing poles jutting up over the Bosporus, swaying gracefully in a rhythmic and mesmerizing pattern as minarets cast the perfect backdrop for their setting.