// SEFA YAMAK · V.2026CANLI
SEFA YAMAK
The Card Players — A Story / 03He Looked Up
The white-haired player faces the camera straight on, holding a fan of cards against a stone wall with an empty chair on either side — street photograph by Sefa Yamak, Istanbul series.

Istanbul, Turkey · 2018

He Looked Up

At the end of the hand he raised his eyes and held them on me.

This story imagines, it does not document. It is what the photograph made me feel.

The cards are still fanned in his fingers, the game not quite over. The stone wall and the two empty chairs make the place feel like it has been his for years. This is where I left him, looking back, calm.

— Sefa Yamak, Istanbul. Istanbul series.

Archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm · Signed & numbered on verso · Certificate of Authenticity included

If this photograph interests you, write to me directly. I'll answer any questions about print sizes, paper, and process. Studio visits in Istanbul are also available.

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