Afternoon Delight

No, Turkish Delight! In the afternoon... What a lovely day.

Our castings were cancelled today so what better excuse for a random adventure. We took a taxi to the Egyptian Bazaar to see what we could see. Nonstop rows of spices and tea and jewels and cheese and perfume and pipes and plates.


Free samples of every type of Turkish treats you can dream of.
YAY!

We stopped to buy some Turkish Delight and taste pomegranite tea (kind of tasted like cough syrup to me though...a little stronger than what we have in Canada) and we proceeded to a shop full of belly dancing dresses. Hmmmm. I smell a photo shoot. . .

The store clerk was more then happy to assist us. "You try on, you don't have to buy", I'm sure the view is payment enough and this provides hours of entertainment for him on a daily basis. Especially when models stroll in. However, we are in Istanbul, and we want to have funny memories. So it's a deal.

We explored The Basilica Cistern (Turkish: Yerebatan Sarayı - "Sunken Palace", or Yerebatan Sarnıcı - "Sunken Cistern"). Only 10 Lira to get in and it was amazing. I think I had goosebumps the whole time I was in there. Not because it was cold but because it was so amazingly unreal. It was built in the 6th century. Incredible.

Medusa's Head Column
We also made time for a quick stop at the "Blue Mosque".

This is the view from inside...I wanted to lay on the floor for hours but it probably wouldn't have gone over so well with the people praying.

Marie Claire

Today I shot an editorial for Marie Claire. They took me to an ancient coliseum with a spectacular view of the black sea. Wow wow wow. I am so lucky to get to see this. It was a get in & get out mission and well worth melting in the sun for. A matador type of concept that went quite quickly thanks to the amazing contributors. Besides being ultra cool and having killer legs, Jerry, the makeup artist also discovered Yasmin Warsame(Next Canada shout-out!) Lior, the super-chill, knows-what-he-wants, works-with-the-elements, deserves-a-lotta-hyphens photographer was a blast to work with. Hopefully I will get to run into this team again at some point during the remainder of my stay in Istanbul.

Super sunny early morning

Walking to location

Viewwwwwwwwwwwww

Jerry


Lior

Toroooooooooooo! The bull wouldn't come out and fight me. But then I also don't agree with bull heckling.

SOMA Magazine

Publications on both sides of the Pacific this month~ SOMA (California based) and Splux (Hong Kong based). Pretty cool!

SPLUX Hong Kong

Fun times with white hair. I had a great time on this shoot....and discovered NUBA, my new fave lunch place...http://nuba.ca/ Falafel plate pleeeeeeeease!

Harper's Bazaar ROUND 2

On Tuesday I shot a story for Harper's Bazaar. This is my second time shooting for Harper's, the first being in Thailand. I was JUST getting over my jet-lag when they told me I would be shooting from 11pm until 7am. Almost back on Vancouver time! I was up over 24 hours by the end of it...and the shoot is a little hazy in my mind. Did it really happen?

It was very interesting changing in the car...into tight leather grey pants on a humid 25 degree night. We started on the walkway by the sea, and hit up various walls and fences, and eventually made our way to the cemetary....where I was asked to lay on a grave. It was misty out and very eery. I even had little spiders crawl over my legs (not intended by styling). Maybe Tim Burton was behind all this.

Anyways, by the end of that I felt like an alien. It is really all a blur. Hope my spinning head contributed to the vibe they were going for...

Scout Cover

We got the cover of Scout Magazine :)

Istanbul

It was really hard to leave everyone in Manitoba. I need to see my family more often.

I landed in Istanbul and found myself immediately sticky in humid 35 degree weather. The newspaper said that the day would feel like 50 degrees and they were not exaggerating. I was picked up by a driver from the agency named Mustafa and was whisked away to 3 castings with about 7 other girls in a square kidnapper-esque van. No air conditioning. Cigarette smoke. No windows in the back. No pity for non-smokers! Get ready for 7 weeks of it princess. However, the girls seem pretty cool so far :)
I followed the signs but I still couldn't find you...
Saturday was amazing, and after a groggy and somewhat treacherous first few hours in the city, I had complete hope that my stay here will be a good one. We went for brunch at this amazing poolside restaurant. We filled our bellies with little grilled sandwiches and ice cream (Gold Magnums-they leave your skin glittery when they melt on you!) and after a quick dip we hopped on a yacht and cruised the Marmara Sea with friends of the agency owner. We eventually parked the boat after gazing at the amazing landscape with large Turkish flags poking out of every hilltop around every corner. What a beautiful view.
Suada- salt water swimming, lounging, eating...

We did some swimming and rode the Jet Ski before taking a break for lunch over at a cool little village. It reminded me of Thailand in a weird way, and we were in fact in Asia. Amazing how Istanbul is split between the two, Europe and Asia. The busy streets full of vendors and seafood stands. We ate an amazing meal and stopped to buy bracelets on the way out. We headed back around sunset only to see what else? Oh that's right....wild freakin' DOLPHINS. They were little and jumping and playing and splashing, and it was one of the best moments of my life. It was a first for me to see them in the wild. I had never had the luck of catching them in any of the exotic locations I have had the priviledge of setting foot. I love life.
lunch
Dinner with the girls
I am sipping coffee in my flat, then I will go get ready for the 5 castings I have today. Looks like it's going to be a scorcher.

I just went to take a shower to get ready for these castings and all of a sudden we have no running water. Deep breath. It's OK though, you know why? Cuz I'm a zen motherf****r and I saw dolphins the other day.