Monsters of Bosphorus: a Journey of Silent Currents

This photograph documents an underwater zone in the Bosphorus that functions as a fish graveyard, where skeletal remains accumulate over time due to currents and human activity.

This project aims to reveal the fragile relationship between human-centered urban production and ecosystems by bringing Istanbul’s iconic urban imagery together with marine life from the Marmara Sea and the Bosphorus within the same visual plane. Through photographs that unite the surface and underwater realms in a single frame, the work examines marine species that continue to exist beneath the shadows of Istanbul’s symbolic architectural structures.

The photographic practice presents simultaneously the city’s monumental image as represented on the surface and the largely overlooked marine life existing beneath it. This approach challenges the reduction of Istanbul to its history, architecture, and scenery alone, proposing instead its ecological and biological layers as integral elements of its iconography.

Beyond photography, the project adopts a multilayered structure that incorporates sculpture, sound, and video. Sculptural works produced from organic remains collected from the sea offer a physical counterpart in space to the living bodies depicted in the photographs. Sound installations derived from underwater recordings and accompanying video works further intensify the viewer’s sensory engagement with the environment.

Through this multidisciplinary framework, the project approaches Istanbul not merely as a city constructed by humans, but as a living organism shaped by currents, marine life, and waste. As viewers move through the exhibition space, they experience a shifting perception between the visible and invisible layers of the city.

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