Photo Album
Istanbul and Ankara: Spring 2002
I was invited to return to TRT Television in Turkey in April, to
advise on a new studio project which was to show their main news bulletins in a
former library in their Ankara headquarters. I knew that library quite well, it
was the scene of a General
Election Programme that I had advised on lighting back in 1999.
Now it had undergone a major conversion to become a large, impressive studio
with many possibilities. Most Broadcasters seem to use small studios and robotic
cameras, TRT are bucking this trend, and wanted their news to look impressive,
and why not?
Another ex BBC colleague, Martin Collins, a former senior
designer at BBC Television Centre, accompanied me on this mission to give our
views on maximizing this new studio to give of it's best. We spent a short time
in Istanbul on our way to the Ankara headquarters. The pictures below give a
flavour of our stay there.
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We were met by our intrepid translators, Ebru
and Ahmet, who have also become my personal friends. |
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Martin and I relaxing with a glass or two
during our first meal in a restaurant overlooking Tacsim Square. |
| If you look really hard, and use some
imagination, you can see the lights of Asia across the Bosphorus! |
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The following morning, Martin and I went for
a walk down toward the old part of the city. |
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A more eclectic variety of buildings you will
not find anywhere... |
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..and there's always the tram to take, just
the one! |
| Oh, and an underground train, just the one,
running between just two stations. It was built in 1875 by the French and
saves walking up a steep hill between Galata Bridge and the Galata Tower. |
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...just another everyday sight in this
city... |
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This looks like an old gaol, or maybe a
bonded warehouse. Note the steepness of the streets. |
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In the spice market. |
| A Shoe shine 'boy' near the Sultans tomb. |
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...and this is the Sultans tomb. |
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Near the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya, is an
amazing underground water cistern built by the Romans. It was built as an
emergency water supply to survive a siege. |
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Taken with a long exposure (but no tripod!)
they are not quite as sharp as they could be, but capture the atmosphere.
Fish swim in the crystal clear water. |
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