Mavi Boncuk |
The Light of Istanbul by Jean-Michel Berts[1]
Following the success of The Light of Paris, The Light of New York, and The Light of Tokyo, lensman Jean-Michel Berts turns his masterful eye to the ancient city of Istanbul. This exotic destination is revealed in Berts’s otherworldly black-and-white photographs, taken at dawn, when the deserted streets and waterways are wrapped in a mystery all their own. The city’s renowned landmarks and hidden corners are captured as never before, framed by Berts’s camera obscura. With an evocative text by Alessandra Ricci, The Light of Istanbul is a spectacular volume on this enchanting city.
Hardcover: 132 pages
Publisher: Assouline Publishing (January 3, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1614280304
ISBN-13: 978-1614280309
[1] A photographer since age sixteen, Jean-Michel Berts has acquired an outstanding international reputation by showcasing his work at Art Brussel's Fair, London, Saint-Tropez, Berlin, and Hambourg. He has also done successful advertising campains for luxury brands such as Lancome, Dior, and Cacharel.
A writer and journalist, Pierre Assouline has published some twenty books. Editor-in-chief of Lire magazine for twenty years, he is now a columnist for Le Monde 2 and Le Nouvel Observateur.
Despite a promising scientific career, Jean-Michel Berts chose a different path - to become a photographer.
With his first Rolleiflex, he became sensitive to the effects of light.
Since the eighties he has worked as a still life photographer for several well-known cosmetics and perfume brands. While involved in this field, he pursued a body of work with a more personal focus, called City Portrait. To achieve this unique rendering, it took him more than one year of work and research.
Jean-Michel Berts collects the essence of cities. This glance is there to remind us of the grandeur of civilizations. The abstraction of characters makes it possible to move human construction forward and thus reanimate its timelessness. From Paris to New York or Venice to Berlin and Casablanca, through his eyes these sublimated cities take a poetic, ethereal and dreamlike value. As he likes to say, "Architectural construction is the cultural reflection of a civilization."