Istanbul’s Winter Diary

The most severe winters that ever gripped Istanbul: 1929 and 1954

Inspired by the photography historian and collector Cengiz Kahraman’s eponymous book published by Yapı Kredi last spring, the “Istanbul’s Winter Diary” exhibition tells the story of the winters of 1929 and 1954, the two most severe winters that ever gripped the city, and does so with hitherto unseen photos. 

A joint Yapı Kredi Culture, Arts and Publishing and Kadıköy Council Caddebostan Culture Centre Art Gallery project, this exhibition brings to light one of the myriad faces of Istanbul.

Press photos documenting the legendary utterances of, ‘The Bosphorus froze over, and people walked from Seraglio Point to Üsküdar!’ snapshots, black-and-whites shot by professional and amateur alike all beckon the visitor to the history of a city. Witnesses to the ‘moments’ when ice floes deposited into the Black Sea by the Danube inundated the Bosphorus in 1929, and again, in 1954, tell their stories to present-day viewers. Fascinating, artistic and film-like photographs in the exhibition reveal a variety of scenes of Istanbul: flustered commuters on the ferry landings and barges, boats and cargo vessels battling the elements.

The unforgettable winters of recent history that froze everything including the Bosphorus understandably dominated the media in 1929 and 1954 and were immortalised in personal and family photograph albums as well as in the archives of photography artists.

The “Istanbul’s Winter Diary” exhibition created by Cengiz Kahraman through a painstaking research into the media, his own vast collection as well as some private archives documents a very special time in history.