# Stories From The City



## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

I have created this new thread to feature, and to tell, a series of 'urban stories'. These stories will not be specific to any one particular city, but will feature a variety of stories set in a variety of different locations. Clearly, most posts will feature 'stories' set in my home city of Liverpool, as that is where I spend most of my time; however, Manchester or Rome or Oxford, for example, may also serve as backdrops to the stories.

This is purely experimental. I hope that it will work and that you will enjoy it too.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## General Electric (Sep 12, 2010)

kay: Already, I like the idea


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## shik2005 (Dec 25, 2014)

Great idea, Jane!


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Yes, I like your idea, Jane!


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Indeed a great idea, Jane; very nice photos :cheers:


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## Somnifor (Sep 6, 2005)

Your new thread is already cool.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

_Thanks for the feedback* everyone.* Appreciated. _


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Every thread of you is well worth the visit.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## the golden vision (Feb 26, 2005)

openlyJane said:


> I have created this new thread to feature, and to tell, a series of 'urban stories'. These stories will not be specific to any one particular city, but will feature a variety of stories set in a variety of different locations. Clearly, most posts will feature 'stories' set in my home city of Liverpool, as that is where I spend most of my time; however, Manchester or Rome or Oxford, for example, may also serve as backdrops to the stories.
> 
> This is purely experimental. I hope that it will work and that you will enjoy it too.


Great stuff, what a prospect!  :cheers:


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## skylark (Jan 27, 2010)

nice stories out of these photos.


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Fascinating, Jane!


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## Romashka01 (Mar 4, 2011)

As usual, excellent photos Jane! kay:


P.S. I have also Panasonic Lumix


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

_Thanks for the positivity people. _


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Good morning, Jane. 
I love this three pics. I admit that I feed birds at my window:
Blackbirds, titmouse, pigeons, ravens... ;-)


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

yansa said:


> Good morning, Jane.
> I love this three pics. I admit that I feed birds at my window:
> Blackbirds, titmouse, pigeons, ravens... ;-)


Good morning to you too  Yes, I also love to feed & watch birds; and Starlings ( as pictured) are especially characterful and cheeky.....


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

openlyJane said:


> Good morning to you too  Yes, I also love to feed & watch birds; and Starlings ( as pictured) are especially characterful and cheeky.....


 We don't have many starlings here in Vienna.
Two of them I saw last year on the lawn on Schönbrunn Bridge,
some more in Schönbrunn Park.
Cheeky surely is the right word for them. ;-)
(And for the crows, which I also love.)


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Excellent again, Jane!


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## shik2005 (Dec 25, 2014)

Nice sets of photos!
This one is quite a painting practically: http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l537/openlyjane/Stories/P1200902_zps0yuqy3a5.jpg


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Great pleasure to look at this pics, Jane!
And nice boots... ;-)


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

_Thanks* Yansa! *I love boots......_


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## Gratteciel (May 4, 2008)

Beautiful pics as always.


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## AUTOTHRILL (Dec 12, 2009)

nice! like the newcastle ones


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

_Thanks everyone_ :cheers: (It is still fairly experimental at this stage)


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Very fine pics, Jane. 
I love the first (of course, the sun behind clouds, the fine light on the water!)
and the last best.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## Taller Better (Aug 27, 2005)

Well, I for one think this is a perfectly marvellous experiment!! More, please! :yes:


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

The birds are cute. 
And beautiful pics!


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## Romashka01 (Mar 4, 2011)

Great photos! something really special


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Romashka01 said:


> Great photos! something really special


_Thank you. You are very kind_


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## the golden vision (Feb 26, 2005)

Jane, bringing back nice memories of your Rome visit.  More to follow soon I hope. :cheers:


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Great photography, Jane! 
I especially like the window, the "woman's hair-portrait" and the group
of young priests.
So much atmosphere in your photos...


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

the golden vision said:


> Jane, bringing back nice memories of your Rome visit.  More to follow soon I hope. :cheers:


Yes, GV.....I'll be returning to Rome later on in the year. I've fallen in love with it.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

yansa said:


> Great photography, Jane!
> I especially like the window, the "woman's hair-portrait" and the group
> of young priests.
> So much atmosphere in your photos...


Thanks Yansa. Your nice comments are appreciated.


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## Somnifor (Sep 6, 2005)

I liked the thing you did with the post with the bird on the fence, the barbed wire and the gourds, where each scene was repeated three times, each a bit differently - like a visual version of a classic rhetorical device.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

. .. .


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## General Electric (Sep 12, 2010)

Some stranges and originals photos, ever wonderfull, one more time!


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Wow, great shots, Jane - unexpected views!
I'm fascinated by that "green machinery". ;-)


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

yansa said:


> Wow, great shots, Jane - unexpected views!
> I'm fascinated by that "green machinery". ;-)


The green machinery is an artefact situated outside of Manchester's _'Museum of __Science and Industry'_ ( MOSI). Manchester was the world's first industrial city.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Really great, very nice updates, Jane :cheers:


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Great updates from Manchester and Liverpool! This one is top! And I love the architectural contrasts in this image.


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

The three people on the sailing ship: A very exciting picture! 
And beautiful too...


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## Gratteciel (May 4, 2008)

WOOOW Jane, your photos are simply fantastic!


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Superb photos again!
This nice market impression with oranges and pomegranates reminds
me of my way to better health (with much vitamins, low carb food and
running as much as possible ;-)).


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

_Thanks for the nice comments, people _


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

And the feast goes on! :cheers:


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

_Thanks *Benonie,* and thanks for your interest in my new thread everyone. Please be patient as it evolves and finds its feet......:cheers:_


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## General Electric (Sep 12, 2010)

So beautiful Sicily. Great shots, what sharp eyes!


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Your selection of Sicily!


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Superb! I especially enjoyed your New Brighton-Set!


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

_Thanks *Benonie,* and thanks *Yansa.* (I'm still trying to find my rhythm with this thread). _


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## shik2005 (Dec 25, 2014)

^^ the first one is little wonder


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

shik2005 said:


> ^^ the first one is little wonder


I've been considering doing a mini project on shoes and feet......really!:lol: ( I'm serious!)


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## shik2005 (Dec 25, 2014)

openlyJane said:


> I've been considering doing a mini project on shoes and feet......really!:lol: ( I'm serious!)


It is possible to produce a project on any given theme, I am sure. All depends upon artist's inclinations...


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## Romashka01 (Mar 4, 2011)

^^ Liverpool? 

Interesting photos!


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Romashka01 said:


> ^^ Liverpool?
> 
> Interesting photos!


Yes! Generally, if the photos have been taken elsewhere (other than Liverpool) I will indicate.


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## shik2005 (Dec 25, 2014)

self-portrait? 
http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/openlyjane/media/Stories/P1390726_zpsqgcj75wv.jpg.html


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Excellent photos again!


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## AUTOTHRILL (Dec 12, 2009)

thats david bowie shik haahah


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

shik2005 said:


> self-portrait?
> http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/openlyjane/media/Stories/P1390726_zpsqgcj75wv.jpg.html


Not this time.......that is a portrait from an exhibition - of the recently deceased David Bowie ( 1970s onward rock legend & icon).


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

I love this new set. Touching!


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

yansa said:


> I love this new set. Touching!


Thanks Yansa. The last image is of my granddaughter, Alex.


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## Gratteciel (May 4, 2008)

Congratulations for your beautiful granddaughter Jane!


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## the golden vision (Feb 26, 2005)

Great updates, Jane. Thanks for sharing.


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

openlyJane said:


> Thanks Yansa. The last image is of my granddaughter, Alex.


 Both beautiful, Jane, your granddaughter and the photography.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

_Thanks for looking and liking everyone. _


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

Very artistic shots here again!
Colour!
The lion made me smile. ;-)
This Chinese door a few sets ago is very beautiful. Interesting perspective.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

openlyJane said:


> _Thanks for looking and liking everyone. _


The pleasure is ours. It really is! :cheers:


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

Benonie said:


> The pleasure is ours. It really is! :cheers:


_Thanks Benonie. You're very kind.:cheers:_


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## shik2005 (Dec 25, 2014)

Loved Manchester story, especially this picture: http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/openlyjane/media/Stories/P1200717_zpsdzohkdz9.jpg.html

Rome, a scene with the bride.

... and Istanbul too...


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

shik2005 said:


> Loved Manchester story, especially this picture: http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/openlyjane/media/Stories/P1200717_zpsdzohkdz9.jpg.html
> 
> Rome, a scene with the bride.
> 
> ... and Istanbul too...


I wish I could live, simultaneously, in all of these cities at once. How interesting life would be.


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## shik2005 (Dec 25, 2014)

Interesting, yes... But it would quite a mess, I am afraid...


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

shik2005 said:


> Interesting, yes... But it would quite a mess, I am afraid...


On some level I think we do carry multiple places within us all of the time - especially those close to our hearts. Currently I'm walking around Liverpool but imagining I'm in a Paolo Sorrentini movie ( set in Rome). Makes everyday life far less dreary.:lol:


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## stepr (Jul 10, 2009)

Great thread Jane, love the concept of stories of a city. To me, these photo give a similar atmosphere to those of abandoned urban areas.. it's strange because these photos are full of life. I think it's the way a moment can capture history and dynamism.


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

stepr said:


> Great thread Jane, love the concept of stories of a city. To me, these photo give a similar atmosphere to those of abandoned urban areas.. it's strange because these photos are full of life. I think it's the way a moment can capture history and dynamism.


Orhan Pamuk in his memoir _*'Istanbul: Memories & The City'* _uses the word "Huzun" - to refer to the melancholy that lingers over a city ( Especially Istanbul - for him); full of past times now faded, memories, and lost loves. 


_Hüzün, the Turkish word for melancholy is among the most mysterious concepts I have ever come across. Hüzün has an Arabic root, and in one sense refers to a type of spiritual anguish, suffered when we grow in attachment to worldly pleasures, and in turn experience a distance from God and spirituality. However, the modern concept of hüzün goes far beyond the history of the word. It is not only a spiritual affliction experienced by devout Muslims, but also a much more ambiguous emotion felt by the residents of Istanbul. Turkish author Orhan Pamuk described hüzün as “the emotion that a child might feel while looking though a steamy window.” Hüzün is not the melancholy of a single person, but a dark mood shared by millions of people together, by the entire city of Istanbul. Although a grim concept, hüzün is central to Istanbul culture; it binds Istanbullus together, and is shared with pride throughout the community.

To a newly arrived visitor, the deepest presence of hüzün may go unnoticed, or simply described as a mysterious presence or air about the city. I myself, emerging as a new resident of Istanbul, was ignorant to the strong effect hüzün has over the city. In the first months, I characterized the feeling as a magic, or dream-like quality that possesses every detail of the strange and beautiful city. Indeed, it is a kind of magic, a type of collective awareness that is unique to Istanbul. However, as the months wore on, and winter settled over the Bosphorus, I felt the presence of hüzün so tangibly I could almost touch it, and I experienced the heavy weight of Istanbul for the first time. These works are my hüzün, my Istanbul, my surreal world.

“To feel this huzun is to see the scenes, evoke the memories, in which the city itself becomes the very illustration, the very essence of huzun. I am speaking of the evenings when the sun sets early; of fathers under streetlamps in the back streets returning home carrying plastic bags. Of the old Bosphorus ferries moored to deserted stations in the middle of winter,/ of the children who play ball between the cars on cobblestoned streets;/ of teahouses packed to the rafters with unemployed men;/ of ship horns booming through the fog;/ of crowds rushing to catch ferries on winter evenings;/ of the city walls, ruins since the end of the Byzantine Empire; of the markets that empty in evenings;/ of the seagulls perched on rusty barges caked with moss and mussels, unflinching under pelting rain;/ of crowds of men fishing on the sides of the Galata Bridge;/ of the busses packed with passengers;/ of the little children in the streets who try to sell the same packet of tissues to every passerby;/ of the underpasses in the most crowded intersections; of the overpasses in which every step is broken in a different way;/ of beautiful covered women timidly bargaining in street markets;/ of the view of the Golden Horn, looking towards Eyüp from the Galata Bridge; of the simit vendors on the pier who gaze at the view as they wait for customers; of everything being broken, worn out, past its prime;/ I speak of them all.”

~Orhan Pamuk “Istanbul: Memories and the City” Chapter Ten _


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

#109: "Rusty love"... ;-)
I like the first and the last pic best - beautiful colours!


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

_Thanks everyone _


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Really awesome, very nice photos; well done, Jane :cheers:


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## yansa (Jun 16, 2011)

By looking at this one can really feel Sicily...
Awesome bird-pic!


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## the golden vision (Feb 26, 2005)

Fantastic photography, Jane. :cheers:


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

yansa said:


> By looking at this one can really feel Sicily...
> Awesome bird-pic!


Yes, a more quiet Sicilian story of fierce sunshine, and shadows..... Land of contrasts.


_Thanks *everyone.*_


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## openlyJane (Feb 3, 2010)

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