new photographic horizons Istanbul

Sebastian Dorbrietz travelled to Istanbul at the end of May to focus on street photography in the Turkish capital. Equipped with a Leica M9, he discovered new photographic horizons on the streets of the metropolis. He went looking for motifs in Beyoğlu, the more westernised part of Istanbul with Taksim Square on the European side of the city, and also captured contrast-rich images on the ferry as he crossed the Bosporus, and in Kadiköy on the Asian side of the city.

The newcomer photographer has numerous role-models. In the case of his street photography in modern-day Istanbul, it was the colour-intense pictures by William Egglestone, as well as Trent Parke’s harsh light and contrasts, that inspired him. As he wandered through the town, Dorbrietz captured colour compositions that only survived for a few moments, sunlight as it fell through a façade of coloured glass, and the smallest splashes of colour in a street scene.

The trained digital media designer discovered photography through his work, and turned his hobby into a profession in 2012. Since then he has worked as a free-lance photographer, photo assistant and picture processor. In order to further his photographic development, he began studying photo journalism and documentary photography at a college in Hanover in the autumn of 2014.