Warped photos turn Istanbul into roller coaster ride | CNN

Photographer <a href="https://www.facebook.com/aydinbuyuktasphotography/" target="_blank" target="_blank">Aydin Buyuktas</a> turns Istanbul's Galata Bridge into a vertigo-inducing roller coaster ride in his series "Flatland."

Photographer Aydin Buyuktas turns Istanbul's Galata Bridge into a vertigo-inducing roller coaster ride in his series "Flatland."

Courtesy Aydın Büyüktaş

The Turkish artist used a drone to take photos of the city, then morphed them into a mind-bending collage using Photoshop.

Courtesy Aydın Büyüktaş

He would usually spend two months planning each image, and around a week creating them.

Courtesy Aydın Büyüktaş

Here, a bus station appears to be a settlement on another planet.<br />"During my childhood and adolescence I read science fiction series from writers such as Isaac Asimov and H.G. Wells, as well as scientific and technical journals," said Buyuktas.<br />"These books made me question issues such as wormholes, black holes, parallel universes, gravitation, and the bending of space and time."

Here, a bus station appears to be a settlement on another planet.
"During my childhood and adolescence I read science fiction series from writers such as Isaac Asimov and H.G. Wells, as well as scientific and technical journals," said Buyuktas.
"These books made me question issues such as wormholes, black holes, parallel universes, gravitation, and the bending of space and time."

Courtesy Aydın Büyüktaş

"I love the way writers like H.G. Wells use science in their books, and their imaginations,"added Buyuktas.<br />"The rest is up to my imagination."

"I love the way writers like H.G. Wells use science in their books, and their imaginations,"added Buyuktas.
"The rest is up to my imagination."

Courtesy Aydın Büyüktaş

Istanbul's Grand Bazaar appears to be inching up the walls in this surreal photograph.

Courtesy Aydın Büyüktaş

While this football stadium presents a daunting prospect for any would-be goalie.

Courtesy Aydın Büyüktaş

The photography series was inspired by Edwin Abbat's 19th century mathematical novel "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions."

Courtesy Aydın Büyüktaş

Warped photos turn Istanbul into stomach-churning roller coaster ride

CNN —

Hold on tight. This is Turkey as you’ve never seen it.

Photographer Aydin Buyuktas’ dizzying images of Istanbul were taken with a drone – that is, when the weather and local wildlife permitted.

“So many times I had to turn back without a picture because of bad weather, technical problems, or birds attacking the drone,” explained Buyuktas, whose background is in visual effects, animation, and video.

The result is a fantastically curved world, where roads and bridges dip away from the viewer much like roller coaster tracks.

Cities fold in on themselves, in "Inception."

Courtesy IMDb/Warner Bros.

First though, Buyuktas had to learn to fly a drone.

“I trained for one month in an empty field,” said the 43-year-old, originally from Ankara.

“I’m not flying around like video guys. I’m just taking photos, so the drone has to stand in the air in the exact position I planned.”

Buyuktas then used Photoshop to morph together his vertigo-inducing collages – similar to the mind-bending worlds depicted in Leonardo DiCaprio’s 2010 film “Inception.”

The photography series – called “Flatland” – was inspired by Edwin Abbat’s 19th century mathematical novel “Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions.”

“We live in places that most of the time don’t draw our attention,” explained Buyuktas.

“But these works aim to leave the viewer with a surprising ironic visual – a multidimensional romantic point of view.”