Turkey 1971 - Gaziantep, a photo from Gaziantep, Southern East Anatolia

Photographer's Note

This is one of my favourite photos from my journey through Turkey in 1971. Maybe not the best photo but one of those that make me happiest now. It is from Gaziantep, the largest city in southeastern Turkey. Coming from the western part this is where a traveller suddenly meets a strong influence of Kurdish and Arabic culture.

Here is a larger version.

This photo has an amusing background. Arriving in Gaziantep I was struck by the colourful clothes worn by most Kurdish women. I really wanted to take a photo, but at my first attempt I was so outstared by my selected "victims" that I lost courage.

But sitting in a teahouse I was drawn into a conversation with two young men. When I told them of my photo ambitions they promised to fix it for me.

So we left the teahouse and went hunting for women. We soon found this group sitting on a pavement. The young men approached an elderly man "in charge" of the group. A discreet conversation followed and after a short while the man told me to go ahead.

Did anyone ask the women?

Of course not!

I was happy to take the photo, but that evening I wrote in my diary that I would have preferred a more natural photo instead of one where they were staring into the camera.

But when I recently saw the photo again for the first time in decades I was delighted to discover that they are not at all staring into the camera. Only the young boys look at me, the women seem like they couldn't care less. And I love the attitude of the two young women in the middle. One of them, hiding her mouth behind her hand, is obviously saying something funny to her friend.

I wonder what she said. Could she possibly have been talking about me?

In my diary I also described Gaziantep as a very exciting city, full of narrow alleys with market stalls and dark workshops, houses with flowers and ornaments and the Kabah of Makkah painted around the doors, and quite often the words "Hoş Geldiniz" (Welcome). The atmosphere was very different from that in the cities of central and western Anatolia. The presence of so many Kurds and Arabs made it feel so much more "Oriental".

I visited Gaziantep again in 1974 when I took a number of photos that I have previously posted here, like this relaxed man I met in a teahouse, these men in the same place and this man in a red shirt.

In 1971 I also took a few very conventional photos in Gaziantep, like this one through a window, or this one showing a hill with a mosque.

Like most other Turkish cities Gaziantep has grown tremendously in recent decades. From 271 000 inhabitants in 1971 the population has now reached about 1,7 million. It was then, and still is, Turkey's sixth largest city.

All photos were scanned from Agfacolor CT18 slides.

besnard, Royaldevon, pierrefonds, johnjmoe, jhm, Fis2, ChrisJ, macjake, COSTANTINO, PiotrF, aliabazari, alvaraalto, maloutim, Ilonka1974, mcmtanyel, ikeharel, notrap, ricardomattos, bertolucci has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

mesutilgim (0) 2020-01-12 0:51

Hello dear Gert,
Another topclass capture/entry in your gallery from 1971.
Almost 50 year old but perfect on every detail.
The boys must be today around their sixties and some of the women has allready passed away.
Unfortunately nothing has changed much in those 50 years.
Again a perfect sample of analogue photography.
Many good and usefull notes.
TFS and have a nice weekend
MESUT ILGIM

pajaran (114867) 2020-01-12 1:30

Pozdrav.
Interesantani i lepi pogledi, dobar tekst ...
Lepa narodna nosnja i arhitektura na fotografijama u radionici.
Lepo pokazano, dobro uhvacen trenutak.
Lepe fotografije i secanja.
Dobar rad skeniranjem.
Zelim vam lep dan za odmor, sve najbolje.
Paja.

Nicou (193806) 2020-01-12 1:48

Hello

Image tr鑚 vivante et color馥 quelle compo et captage quelle vue toues ces personnes de diverses g駭駻ations de tout petit aux plus anciens et quel couleur et habillement les reflets dans le vitrage � droit ces deux jeunes tout souriant fantastique
bravo et amiti�
nciou

besnard (59196) 2020-01-12 2:31

Bonjour Gert
Une belle image color馥 d'un des aspects de la vie quotidienne. Le sourire des enfants fait plaisir � voir.
Merci pour le partage et bon dimanche.
Nicole

Royaldevon (85606) 2020-01-12 2:36

Hello Gert,

Reading your notes, I was surprised when you mentioned that everyone was looking at your camera, for I had already decided that the women were shy or bashful and were averting their eyes but the young men were totally opposite. You certainly gained your opinion from the actions of the day but, the camera tells you differently. (I think you may be right about the those two young girls, having a secret word at your expense! It's very much a teenage girl attitude to pretend not to be looking but to share comments with a best friend!)

It is a most enjoyable photograph and one very well taken. There is so much to perceive from the people, their clothes, their attitude and their place.
The reflection gives depth to the photograph and some silhouetted figures. Was one the man that gained permission for you?

My warm regards,
Bev :-)

Silvio1953 (220553) 2020-01-12 2:43

Ciao Gert, interesting daily life scene with lovely people, fino details, excellent clarity, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

pierrefonds (113552) 2020-01-12 4:37

Hi Gert,

You have captured well the smiling expression of the children. The point of view is showing the details of the clothings. The light is enhancing the colors. Have a nice day.

Pierre

jhm (211734) 2020-01-12 5:27

Hello Gert,

All the people on the picture are now old people, everything go very quick.
Lovely portrait of this family.
Very well done, TFS.

Have a nice Sunday,
John.

Fis2 (169679) 2020-01-12 7:15

Witaj Gert!
Curious scene from street.
Good framing and colors.
I like this picture from daily life.
Nice sunday afternoon.
Krzysztof

ChrisJ (171194) 2020-01-12 7:30

Hello Gert,

The 2 fearless boys have made direct eye contact but the 5 women and the child seem to be averting their gaze. Only the girl at far left in the shadows is paying any attention to you. A superb daily life scene and I now regret I flew from Van to Ankara and then headed north along the Black Sea coast, bypassing Gaziantep altogether. But there is just so much to see in Turkey that it's not possible to see everything, even in the 3 months I allowed before departing for Munich. I really wanted to see this mosaic:

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/AF13EX/the-gypsy-girl-zeugma-mosaics-gaziantep-museum-turkey-AF13EX.jpg

jmdias (114240) 2020-01-12 7:59

gert

that women with the baby would fit exactly as one of my father sisters, impressive. nice details of the people and the clothes and expressions.

take care

jorge

rychem (72187) 2020-01-12 8:46

A very nice daily life scene taken 50 years ago, These young boys already have their grandchildren, and the grandchildren may be surprised that this is how their grandfather looked, if they find this picture somewhere on the internet :)
regards Ryszard

lousat (138585) 2020-01-12 9:13

Hi Gert,the city is now a metropolis, things have changed, and so once again your mental and photographic memories are very precious. You went out with the local assistants you met recently to hunt for characters and this composition is really beautiful. In fact, women don't seem to care much about what you're doing, probably Arab culture wasn't so strong. I also really like the black and white WS, with the mosque overlooking the hill, maybe now it will be buried among the skyscrapers. Have a nice evening and thanks,Luciano

COSTANTINO (115499) 2020-01-12 12:27

Hello dear friend and have a nice time
every photo of yours has its personal story
I red it carefully ....you must issue a book
with so many stories and photos from
many many years ago
regards
Costantino

Miguel82 (47110) 2020-01-12 12:50

Gert, excellent capture showing Kurdish people in Gaziantep. The characters have different expressions : happiness, shyness, curiosity. I like the traditional and colorful clothes they wear. Fine colors, good sharpness, absorbing photo note, regards.

GyurMaster (24668) 2020-01-12 13:14

Dear Gert,

Indeed they look being natural, even the boys seem to have a casual look instead of being tense because of the camera. The vivid clothes of the people highlight them well from the dull bg. I like the WS photos too! No. 1 is a fair postcard, composed wisely.

Best Wishes,
Gy.

PiotrF (54246) 2020-01-12 15:38

Hello Gert,
Interesting daily life picture from Hugh with man at work.
An interesting story. Your diary is priceless.
Interesting picture in WS.
Fine presentation.
Regards
Piotr

macjake (98262) 2020-01-12 17:18

Hi Gert
always enjoy reading your notes.
cool to have the reflection on the glass too.
so many colors, yet the one constant is the choice of orange for the head gear - I wonder if there is a religious reason/meaning for that? interesting to read about how the scene developed and all the interactions. You have very cool new posts which i haven't gotten to yet as well. cheers
Craig

aliabazari (21221) 2020-01-12 20:36

Hi dear friend Gert
A good documentary of the Kurdish people of Turkey. I love your good photos from the past. Your courage and efforts in my youth are precious and commendable to me. Thanks for sharing

emka (157280) 2020-01-13 1:37

Hello Gert, it is a very nice picture :). Women dresses have wonderful colours. The scarves are worn in the interesting way. I haven't seen similar to this. I wonder if one can see such views now. The reflection in the window is also interesting.
You put a lot of links here. Now, even your posts are old. Gaziantep seems heaven for street photography. There are a lot of pictures by Mesut and Bostan.
The boys are looking at you but not stare. Also, the woman far left is interested. This is the part of Turkey that I haven't visited. My dream is to go far east, to van and Nemrut but it is very far and not always safe.

Kind regards Malgo

alvaraalto (42804) 2020-01-13 3:06

Hello Gert,
I read the text and looked at the photos with great pleasure. Interesting how you describe how the photo came about and especially how your appreciation for posing has changed over the years. I recognize that shift in taste too. Where I used to wait until everyone was gone, I now wait until there are people who enliven the show and prefer to relaxed rather than posed.
Excellent observation!
Have a nice day, groet Rob
PS. I also did not stand in line and preferred a drink on a terrace.

kasianowak (17672) 2020-01-13 5:36

Indeed, the image is nicely timed for the expressions on ladies faces. They probably wouldn't look at the camera or maybe, as you say, they didn't really care. The colours of their clothes are lovely and worth all the trouble to photograph them.
The reflection in the door looks surreal and adds another dimension to the photo.
Have a nice week.
Kasia

Gerrit (62042) 2020-01-13 12:08

Hello Gert,
very colorful in all meanings this photo. The young men are very hapy to be photograped.
Thanks and regards,
Gerrit

Ilonka1974 (10289) 2020-01-13 13:39

Hi Gert
This is a really nice picture, a many of faces and colours. Your low PoV is good.
Excellent composition. So many faces, so many expressions. Turey is as colourful as ever.
Best regards
Janusz

mcmtanyel (67611) 2020-01-13 20:21

Hello Gert,
Yes, I like their colorful attires, too. I love that old bus in the reflection. I don't know if you recropped this after digitizing it - if you did, I would put back a little space above the eager beavers' heads. 👍🏻👍🏻
Regards,
MT

worldcitizen (15956) 2020-01-18 18:16

Hello Gert,
This is a very charming and colorful street scene. I do like all the different facial expressions, and the bright clothes. There's a bonus red truck reflection in the window, too. :-)

gervaso (28177) 2020-01-20 4:33

Hello, Gert!

Really a very nice photo from your archive, the boys posing for you, the colorful typical clothes of the women and the spontaneity of the scene are all great! Even the reflection of the red bus on the glass is also a very nice detail! Wonderful composition!

ricardomattos (17396) 2020-01-22 15:37

Hello Gert,

Realmente uma foto muito atrativa e significante com estas belas roupas coloridas. Uma beleza de composi鈬o com imo equil兊rio e luminosidade. Muito bom trabalho !

Parab駭s

Ricardo

bertolucci (14052) 2020-02-03 0:49

Hej Gert, another fab image/text combination form your 70s Turkey travels. It's colourful, nicely rhyhmic and you have both unbothered interaction (the women) 疣d spirited interaction (the boys)in your well cut cinematic frame. The reflections add depth as Bev remarked earlier. And the WS pics are of fine contextual in3terst. TFS ! Kind regards from Rotterdam, Bert.

jtovey375 (620) 2020-02-10 10:24

Nice contrasts between the posed and unposed. And a sweet palette of colours, mainly the women's clothes, but also the blue of the door and the red of the reflected van. Good stuff.