Gran Bazar

Gran Bazar Gran Bazar photographs were shot in Istanbul in 2011, in the big and labyrinthine open air area that surrounds the Kapali Çarsi, the market hall, and an area that is not generally visited by tourists. In that place the Istanbul residents go shopping, here iridescent fabrics that appear to be from a fairy tale, the sumptuous vestments of sultano that children wear for the rite of circumcision and the handkerchiefs with which more and more women cover their heads are sold; there are also jeans and underwear, wedding dresses and working clothes sold here. Walking in this market is like strolling through the contradictions of a Country divided by the tension towards modernity and the wish to recover religious traditions and most of all social rules that seemed to be nearly outdated. During the walk you are accompanied by the expressive gazes of mannequins, that boldly wear signs of time, their gaze either goes far into the distance, or they look straight into our eyes: like that girl, with her sweet smile and the broken nose. In the background, a police child. Gran Bazar is also a small book (12x17cm), printed in 10 copies, which belongs to the self-produced series Souvenir. The book is divided in three sections: Postcards, Portraits and Patterns, it’s contained in an envelope and accompanied by a poster, which is also the cover, by a postcard and by a printed photo, always a different one of the mannequins.