Caraco, FrançoiseHidden Istanbul

The core of Hidden Istanbul is built by the imagery of Françoise Caraco. It consists of archive material she has found in the estate of her great-grandfather, a Sephardic Jew emigrated from what was then called Constantinople. It comprises varied material such as family photographs, postcards and personal notes. Another type of information is given by today’s Jewish inhabitants of Istanbul, whom Caraco interviewed about their way of living in this city. The archive material and statements are accompanied by pictures which Caraco took herself. She made them during a long research of several journeys in Istanbul in order to capture its spirit. Texts and images echo each other. Caraco manages to build a coherent and polyphonic entity around a community and city that remains unknown for most people.