Perhaps the best way into Alex Webb's photographs in Istanbul: City of a Hundred Names is the accompanying essay by Orhan Pamuk, which examines the Turkish word Hüzün. The term means both caring too much for material possessions, and spiritual suffering as a result of not being able to do enough for Allah. "Istanbul is Hüzün," claims Pamuk, filling more than a page with descriptions of scenes that might well double as descriptions of Webb's photographs.

As the artist explains in his introduction, Istanbul straddles two continents, connecting Asia and Europe to create one of the most diverse cities in the world. Images frequently find old Muslim temples paired with European cars and streets, and capture neighborhoods ranging from the winding streets of Cihangir and Ayvansaray to the nightclubs of Taksim. "Faith" 2001 and "Eminõnü," (2001), for example, open the book and document a familiar relationship with the religious architecture that dominates the landscape. By contrast, the nighttime shots, with glowing reds and greens in bars and lit streets, feature prominently later in the book.

Such photographs build a robust portrait of the city, but even with Pamuk's breathless account and more than 75 photographs of the city, a feeling of incompleteness permeates the book's raw and unpolished documentation. Much like the static and transitory advertisements that appear in Webb's photographs or the shots of people either relaxing in their homes or working and traveling, no distinct emotional state can be attributed to those captured. The images do not depict strict melancholy, nor do they frame elation. Each photograph suggests a city merely on its way to experiencing something else.

-Paddy Johnson