What I love most about Istanbul is finding here the same sun I grew up with in Syria; it softens the sense of being a stranger and allows me to open myself more fully to life.

Not long ago, I realized that my “age” in Istanbul is ten, and I live by it, learning its language and moving to its rhythm.

Istanbul is burning… Sometimes with love, sometimes with longing, sometimes with excitement. For me, Istanbul has always been a woman, when I speak to the cities I love, I speak to them as if they were her. And with Istanbul, we are bound in a love affair.

As I follow the sun, I walk, holding the camera in my hand until it tingles. I drift deeply in my imagination, and I awaken only when I see something worth seeing.

This is who I am every time I hold the camera in my hands; I let it lead me toward what I usually do not notice.