Sedat Pakay’s Photographs of James Baldwin in Istanbul

Despite his several long periods of residence in Istanbul, James Baldwin published little about his experiences there. Visual documentation, however, is abundant—much more so than for any other place associated with Baldwin—because of the Turkish-American photographer Sedat Pakay. Although better known for his short film James Baldwin: From Another Place (1973), Pakay also took scores of still photographs of Baldwin. This article draws on the work of Magdalena J. Zaborowska and includes previously unpublished and rarely exhibited works. Selected from Pakay’s extensive archives, these photographs illustrate the comfort and freedom Baldwin found in Istanbul, which led to his most productive period.