Older Man, Village outside of Ankara, Turkey, June 5, 2013

This was a day of unrest in the capital as the protests grew night after night. Just a day earlier it was decided that the project was to be cancelled and that all participants were to return to their respective cities. An idea came to me as the decision was made, to stay behind on my own and work according to my methods. I brought this up to the leaders of the project and they agreed to allow me one day in the capital and then allow me to fly back to the first city of our tour where the protests were non-existent for the most part.

So this afternoon, without the team and on my own in the city, I was helped by the good people of the U.S. Department of State, Ebru and Todd. They arranged for a car and a driver named Aykan to guide me outside of the city, to a village reminiscent of my work in the eastern portions of the country. My friend was unable to speak English and I was unable to speak Turkish, so we travelled in silence and with laughter now and then.

With the help of a mobile phone we talked with Ebru on several occasions and she guided Aykan as to my photographic needs. She never hesitated once and did so selflessly for the sake of the photography. As we drove through the village we looked at each other several times and finally made the decision to stop by an elderly man as he was working on his tractor. He seemed nice enough and a good person with whom to start. It turned out to be perfectly true, he allowed us graciously to make his portrait and then allowed his driveway to be the spot in which we photographed his friend above, as well as a few children that happened to be walking by.

While the city below us was filled with traffic, in the village few cars drove by and children walked peacefully without concern for large crowds. A shop across the street invited us in for tea and shelter since it was about to rain. The smell of the droplets as they collided with the ground was exhilarating and almost made us forget about the time.

My appreciation goes to Aykan, Ebru and Todd for my access to this good man.

halim.ina@gmail.com
Halim Ina Photography

Snapshot, Man, Gaziantep, Turkey, May 29, 2013

He walks towards our car from sitting with his friends after he had agreed to be photographed, quite curious as to the gear we were pulling out of the trunk. He might have thought of a small camera and a quick snapshot, but was more than gracious in allowing us to document him with the medium format camera mounted on a considerable tripod.

We were driving on the road perpendicular to this small path when we noticed his features from the car. We slowed down a bit and my dear friend Ali agreed to step out and have a short conversation with the three men. To our delight this older man agreed to our presence and even allowed us to photograph the others from his family.

With his permission we moved his chair into the sunlight and began with a formal portrait of his face, then moved onto making images of his incredibly beautiful hands. He was surprised at my attraction to his hands, but allowed it nonetheless after seeing a few examples of such in my photographic album.

After seeing our work a few of the boys wanted their portraits made and we did so in a candid manner with the handheld camera. A roll or so were also exposed on film of this man's son when my eyes noticed the women sitting in the distance watching. With a whisper I communicated to Ali my desire to include the women and in the same whisper he advised me that this would be near to impossible.

I respected Ali's advice of course, wanting to do anything but to get him into trouble. However the urge to do so overtook me and without the use of a common language my thoughts were communicated to the men in charge with gestures, and honest pleas with a smile.

To my pleasant surprise they agreed kindly and allowed me to make portraits of two of the young women. To my greater surprise the two young women walked over in front of so many men to have their portraits made without a single sign of hesitation. They were strong and confident, albeit quite reserved with their words. They stood for their portraits as strong as any of the women in my portfolio and, considering the circumstances around them, without equal.

I look forward to this man's portrait, to the images of his hands and to the results of the young women's portraits in the coming days as the negatives are reviewed.

halim.ina@gmail.com
Halim Ina Photography