Orhan Pamuk: Balkon

In the winter of 2011, Nobel-Prize-winning Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk took 8,500 colour photographs from his balcony, offering a panoramic view of Istanbul. This view encompassed the entrance of the Bosphorus, the old town, the Asian and European sides of the city, the surrounding hills, and the distant islands and mountains. At times, he would leave his writing desk to follow the movements of the boats as they passed in front of his apartment and sailed far away.

As Pamuk obsessively created these images, he felt his desire to do so was related to a peculiar mood he was experiencing. He photographed further and began to contemplate what was happening to himself: Why was he taking these photos? How are seeing and photography related? What is the affinity between writing and seeing? Why do we enjoy looking at landscapes and landscape photographs?

Balkon presents almost 500 of these photos selected by Pamuk, who has also co-designed the book and written its introduction.

'There is genius in Pamuk's madness.' - Umberto Eco