The chance encounters, fleeting expressions and everyday dramas of Istanbul are set to take centre stage in London this month when acclaimed Turkish street photographer Mustafa Seven opens his latest exhibition, NASİP.
Running from 12 to 26 September 2026 at Versus Arts Gallery in Lower Clapton, East London, the exhibition brings together photographs Seven has accumulated over many years documenting life on the streets of Istanbul.
Curated by Dr Nilay İşlek, NASİP – İstanbul’da Rastlantısal Karşılaşmalar (Chance Encounters in Istanbul) focuses on human encounters, the experience of sharing a city and the often invisible connections that form between people and their urban surroundings.
Rather than presenting Istanbul simply through its famous landmarks, Seven turns his camera towards the people who inhabit it and the seemingly ordinary moments that can suddenly become extraordinary.
The black-and-white photographs offer a flavour of that approach: men standing beside the Bosphorus as gulls swarm overhead; a young simit seller balancing an enormous tray of the sesame-covered bread rings with the Maiden’s Tower in the distance; and an elderly man caught in heavy snowfall, framed against the monumental architecture surrounding him.
They are recognisably Istanbul scenes, yet their emotional pull extends well beyond the city.
Through moments of coincidence, waiting and everyday life that might otherwise pass unnoticed, NASİP invites visitors not only to look again at Istanbul, but at people, encounters and the way we observe the world around us.
Three decades documenting life
Seven has spent more than 30 years working across documentary and street photography, developing a body of work centred on people and their relationship with the places around them.
His photographs have been exhibited across Türkiye, as well as Munich and Paris. His published work includes Istanbul, Street Photography, City For One (2016), 10 Years 10 Cities 10 Stories (2017) and If I Want (2019). His most recent book, La Latinité de Constantinople, published in 2025, forms part of the Vatican Apostolic Library collection.
The photographer has also expanded his visual storytelling into moving images, completing his first feature-length documentary in 2025: Thank you Go for My Spoiler, which focuses on the Latin Catholic community in Türkiye, exploring the themes of minority identity, cultural memory and belonging.
Alongside his own artistic practice, Seven lectures at universities and independent arts platforms and mentors emerging photographers. He is also an honorary member of the French Street Photographers Association.
Photographer Mustafa Seven
For London audiences, NASİP offers the opportunity to experience Istanbul through the eye of a photographer who has spent decades observing the city at close quarters — finding humour, tenderness, hardship and unexpected beauty in moments most people might walk straight past.
Talking about his upcoming exhibition, Seven said: “I use the word nasi not in its deterministic sense of fate, but as a state of openness to encounter. Nothing in street photography can be entirely planned. Light, time, people, and the city come together for a brief moment within the same frame. My role as a photographer is not to control these moments, but to recognise them – to witness them without interrupting the natural flow of life.”
Exhibition details
Mustafa Seven — NASİP: İstanbul’da Rastlantısal Karşılaşmalar
Dates: 12–26 September 2026
Curator: Dr Nilay İşlek
Venue: Versus Arts Gallery, 114A Lower Clapton Road, London E5 0QR
Admission: free
The exhibition is supported by Londonist DMC, Impervia Group and Dilara Arslan.
