Miko Russell Photography

Thought I’d try and counteract some of the negativity in the news about the Taksim Square protests by posting up some pictures of a more peaceful time. These are from 2007, when I visited Istanbul for a few days en route to the Turkish coast. The people, food, drinks, architecture, culture, were awesome and it was definitely one of my favorite places I’ve ever been. This is where I started drinking ultra-potent coffee and got the hang (uhh kinda) of licorice-flavored alcohol (raki, it’s like ouzo, but Turkish!). Also my love of flat-leafed parsley started here.

Yes, that last picture is of a turtle just chillin’ on the roof of the neighbor’s house.

These are really the only photos I have of Taksim Square, which we didn’t hang out around very much (we stuck mostly around the Cihangir neighborhood.) But I have great memories of the place, and these little wet hamburgers pictured were hands-down incredible—especially after a night out. Not to get super political on ya’ll but the PM needs to stop being a diiiick. Anyways.

My favorite city.

A few years ago, my aunt came down with a pretty serious illness. My grandmother asked if I’d come by my aunt’s beloved garden and take some photos of it to present to her as a gift–something she could look at to remind her of home if she was in the hospital. Of course I said yes, and one day me and my grandmother snuck into her backyard and took the pictures. The photos came out a little more abstract that either of us expected, but I was really happy with the results.

Long story short, I gave about 100 photos to my grandma to make into a book and she gave it to my aunt. She loved it. (And she’s doing fine now). Happy ending, yay family.