Istanbul is a city where past and present are inseparable. Here, unlike in other cities, its monuments from glorious periods and its grand historical landmarks have not become museums, but rather remain a functional part of daily routine.

This living memory defines the spirit of the city and is well described by the Turkish expression “Hüzün”, which hovers between bitterness and melancholy. In Istanbul, this is a feeling that transcends the individual and becomes a collective expression.

This project does not seek to narrate a sadness. On the contrary, in this process of photographing Istanbul, it becomes clear that melancholy is a feeling that ennobles us, that responds to something essential: the living memory of a pride, of a love, for which we fight against its fading. Melancholy, unlike sadness, is an attempt to preserve something that is fundamental to us.

These photographs attempt to relate the grandeur of those memories, the feeling of melancholy that surrounds and sustains them. An attempt to approach Istanbul and to understand "hüzün" as a plural voice that reveals both the glory of an imperial city and the melancholy of being who we are.