Spotlight on Photography: Drinking in Türkiye’s Coffee Culture

For me, the streets of Istanbul are an endless playground. When I take photos, I don’t see the city as a mere backdrop but as a living stage. People, light, shadows and architecture all move together like parts of an opera. While shooting, I often listen to music, letting the rhythm slip into the frame so that each image carries the energy of a live performance.

That was exactly what I felt while taking this photograph in 2019. The copper coffeepots bubbling by the Bosporus Strait were not just brewing coffee; they were adding a new note to the rhythm of the city. The rising steam mingled with the salty air while the figures in the background completed the atmosphere. The reflective surface of the pots has always felt like an instrument to me, playing an invisible melody within the image.

This frame shows that even the simplest moments in Istanbul carry layered meaning. A cup of coffee brewing by the sea contains hospitality, memory and the rhythm of everyday life. The figures seemingly inside the coffeepots create a moment when coincidence and humor collide. This alignment, born from my patient anticipation, emerges as a technique of juxtaposition. It places the authenticity of daily life against a cultural motif of Türkiye, a country widely known for its coffee. That is why street photography, for me, is all about finding and capturing the scene within the ordinary, the serendipitous and the humorous.

Serkan Tekin is a street photographer from Istanbul whose playful yet sharp vision has brought his work to international festivals in Brussels, San Francisco and London, as well as to magazines and social media platforms.

@umagumag