There is a unique kind of magic in a long layover. You’re suspended between where you’ve been and where you’re going, existing in a 20-hour pocket of stolen time. In 2024, while travelling from Astana, Kazakhstan, back to the UK, I found myself in the best place in the world to be “lost” for a day: Istanbul.
I have a deep-seated love for the Galata Bridge and the ferries that fan out from it. I grabbed an Istanbulkart, loaded it up, and spent the day crossing the water. It’s the perfect travel hack. It lets you soak in the city air and the skyline without the heavy legwork that usually comes with mid-trip transit.
If you fly Turkish Airlines with a 20+ hour layover, they provide a hotel room in the heart of the city. It’s a game-changer; it transforms a gruelling wait into an invitation to explore. It keeps you from feeling trapped in a terminal and lets the city become your lounge.
There is a specific vibe to sitting on an Istanbul ferry. Every boat feels different, but the views are consistently world-class, whether you’re watching the passengers inside or the chaos of the Bosphorus outside. I took a trip up to Kanlica on the Asian side just for the sake of the ride, shooting the world around me from the deck. I hopped off, grabbed a tea, and caught the next boat back.
In street photography, we talk about “hunting” (moving to find the frame) and “fishing” (staying still and waiting for the subject to enter it). Galata Bridge offers both. I could hunt for a sunset wedding shot or “fish” for thirty minutes until a single moment summarised the city’s dual nature: a girl in a hijab walking alongside a friend with her hair out. It is Istanbul in a nutshell. Ironic when there are so many fishermen on the bridge.
Since my flight was at 7:00 AM, I stayed out shooting late into the night and waking in the blue hour. My final shot was the mosque just outside the airport, its reflection a quiet mirror to my time in the city.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been to Istanbul, but it remains my favourite city in the world. There will be many more posts to come.
The Bearded Skot 
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