A new book by NARPAC member John Cleave
(click picture above for slideshow, which will pop up in a new window)

ISTANBUL: City of Two Continents

by John Cleave

Introductions by John Freely

In the third of his "digital watercolor" sketchbooks, John Cleave has turned his artistry to the former capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires and today Turkey's largest city. Standing astride Europe and Asia, surrounded by a garland of water, a vibrant 21st century city with a visible history that stretches back nearly three millennia, Istanbul is, simply, unique.

The many facets of this spectacular city are captured by John in his 175 captioned illustrations. John Freely, doyen of writers on Istanbul and its history, sets the stage with his overview, City of Two Continents , and his introductions to the three succeeding chapters: The Historic Heart of Istanbul; Across the Golden Horn: Beyoglu and Beyond; and The Other Side: Istanbul in Asia.

Publisher: Editions Didier Millet, Paris and Singapore.

$ 30.00

ISBN 978-981-4217-52-1

Available in the USA at good bookstores or from Amazon.com from October 2008

Click the thumbnails above for a slideshow that will pop up in a new window.

Requests for more information may be addressed to jhcleave@aol.com

About the Artist:

John Cleave was born and raised in England but has lived in the U.S. since 1966 and for the past 37 years in Washington. After over a decade in the British Colonial Service in Africa Mr. Cleave joined the World Bank here as an agricultural economist. After a successful career with the Bank, where he worked mainly on projects Africa and East Asia, Mr. Cleave retired to a take up a new vocation as an architectural photographer for a clientele of architects, designers and builders in the Washington area. This work lead him into an exploration of the digital manipulation of photography and thence to the publication of three books of "digital watercolors" (see above). Mr. Cleave's (unmanipulated) photographs also accompany various articles throughout this web site.