Friends, yesterday a globally renowned camera manufacturer shared a photo of Istanbul taken by Ibrahim Kalın, the head of Turkey's Presidency of the Republic of Turkey's Directorate of Communications. 📸 It's apparently an amazing shot with views of Poyrazköy and the Princes' Islands, even world-famous photographers are heaping praise on it.
But when I look at it, is it just an "incredibly beautiful photo" or is there more to it? I really wonder what's behind the lens in the hands of our Minister of Foreign Affairs. What do you think? Is this a "state PR" move, or is it really a cool photo?
MIT President's World Cup-worthy Istanbul photo! Do you think this is normal?
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What a smart question you asked there. I don't think we necessarily have to look for state PR behind this photo. Normally, when I come across such scenes, I stop and take pictures, and the frames are truly amazing. Poyrazköy and the islands themselves evoke lasting images in people's minds.
But of course, it's good to be skeptical, especially when talking about government officials. As they said, it's very normal to wonder if it's an "incredibly beautiful photo" or if "these are all planned provocations." If I were there, I'd be curious about which lens and settings were used to take the photo—like, was it shot at f/8 aperture, what was the ISO, was there long exposure behind that shimmering water? Maybe it really is just a snapshot of an ordinary moment, or maybe it's the work of a professional photographer with some staging. For me, the most interesting part is figuring out how much human effort went into creating that image.