A relaxed man Photo

Photographer’s Note

One last (I think) picture from a Turkish café in 1974. This one from the city of Gaziantep in the southeast.
I am surprised to see how relaxed this man looks when posing, because most people under such circumstances would straighten up, looking stiff like soldiers, staring intensely at me.
This was scanned from an Ilford FP4 negative.

mikolaj_kawa, Buin, saxo042, Vasa, skippy007, UlfE has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

mikolaj_kawa (32169) 2009-11-26 1:15

Hello Gert! Wonderful man, amazing scene, excellent pose. Very interesting background. Ideal lightness and contrast. Original vertical work. Well done!

mesutilgim (39502) 2009-11-26 1:18

Good morning Gert,
My todays posting is also from a typical turkish cafe house but not as old as yours !
Very nice b&w capture from seventies. Perfect scanning.
Just a small notice : the shoes, this man carries is still very common in greater parts of the country and still been produced by the same factory in İstanbul. The brand was GISLAVED .The raw material they use : used, old rubber car tires. Old rubber stuff was been chupped then pressed under high heat and pressure and vulcanised. A typical all weather footwear fro summer and winter !!
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

jasmis (52946) 2009-11-26 1:45

Oh yes. Absolutely splendid portrait in amazing surroundings. Superb B&W tones.
Regards.

serp2000 (10765) 2009-11-26 2:13

Privet, Gert,
1974? It was hard times for Turkey. A pure and closed country with the army government. Good archive photo, interesting details. A spirit of these times. TFS!
Serghei

nirvana73 (9046) 2009-11-26 4:04

Hello Gert
very nice black and white portrait old man
very nice documantry capture
thanks for sharing
best regards
Ozhan

Buin (40621) 2009-11-26 4:10

Hallo Gert!
My sons would call him "cool" ;-)
An impressive portrait - caught in a wonderful light, and a fascinating photo indeed! A self-confident man ...
The smoke of the cigarette is a nice detail here.
Greetings from Germany!
Frank

muunal (468) 2009-11-26 4:35

Your B&W contributions are fascinating...

saxo042 (18016) 2009-11-26 9:48

Hej Gert,
Another fine documentary of another time and another life. I like the shoes too, I could have sworn they had an origin in Småland! But you must have talked to this man, did he give his permission to have his picture taken?
Hälsningar
Gunnar

Vasa (8880) 2009-11-26 12:09

Nice seria from your pocket, dear friend Gert. All last pictures are great witness from your far away travel in Turkey. Natural position of your model. I hope he could do it today again for your new camera. Warm regards,

Branko

amazon (10995) 2009-11-26 13:11

1974'ten yine belge gibi bir fotoğraf,adamın lastik ayakkabıları ve tahta sandalyeler o dönemi anlatan nefis ayrıntılar,
teşekkürler gert,
iffet

Glint (3258) 2009-11-27 8:46

Hello Gert,
I love this to bits! It absolutely is of its time and place. And this Turk seems one pretty cool dude.
best regards,
Bev

figenya (2163) 2009-11-27 12:16

Hi Gert,

As I have written before, you have a treasury in your archieve. 1974 is a quite far past. You have that moment in your hands...

I loved his relaxed mood and the details around.

You are a lucky man to be in photography so long in your life. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

:)To take a photo of a man in Gaziantep in 1974, you should have a strong human contact and ability to convince. Cheers for that...

kind regards

figen

Bandit (2138) 2009-11-29 14:15

Hi Gert,
i like the way the man is standing, the light and the texture of this picture !! A really wonderful picture ! Well done !!
Fabien

kschanna (6) 2009-11-30 2:30

Gert,

This is poetry, a very fine portrait with brilliant tones and artistically supreme composition.

Thanks for sharing
Kamran

ben4321 (9847) 2009-12-01 11:57

This is a great shot Gert; I really like it. I saw a lot of older men dressed exactly like this when I was in Van last year, so maybe things haven't changed so much since 1972 in eastern Turkey!
Yep, it's a good shot, and I even like the slight tilt - makes him seem even more relaxed.

Cheers,
Ben

skippy007 (8205) 2009-12-02 14:55

Hello Gert, Firstly a very nice capture & secondly very well reproduced. There a several interesting details here, I think, his stance & lean, a confident man, cigarette in hand & smoke drifting away & his shoes, I must admit it was one of the first things I notice, I found your conversation with Mesut very interesting. Nice light filtering through the door or window, beautiful portrait, well done.
Thanks
Regards
Santo

COSTANTINO (24604) 2009-12-05 13:51

Hello
this shot reminds me of old times
The figure of the old man and the simplicity
of the photo brings memories,
a simple shot full of feelings
compliments
Costantino

UlfE (9754) 2009-12-23 8:27

Hej Gert,

A superb portrait of this old man. The fact that he was very relaxed was really contributing to that it is such a wonderful picture. It is very interesting with the background. Usually you prefer a blurred background. But for a documentary photo like this and also quite old you realize that when a number of years have passed. All the details in the background are really interesting and you are glad that they are sharp. Especially in a picture like this where the background is not disturbing at all. TFS and have nice dan före dan. Jag får också önska God Jul.

Ulf

speedymanu (1728) 2010-03-05 1:11

Hello Gert

a very intense portrait, with a Dorothea Lange's atmosphere to it. The distribution of light, the lighting on the man's face are superb. A composition that has a timeless touch to it.

Have a nice day

Emmanuel