Samsun

Photographer's Note

Nothing special going on in Samsun, just people living their ordinary lives in early August 1971.

Here is a larger version.

Samsun was, and still is, nothing special as a city. It is the largest city and port on the Turkish Black Sea coast, a busy place with hardly any sights of importance. In 1971, when I spent a day and a night there, it had a population of 138,000. In 2019 it had grown to 624,000, making it the 13th largest city in Turkey.

In my diary from this journey I noted that I took one photo, which obviously was this one, although I don't actually remember taking it. Judging from the diary it must have been somewhere in the city center, in spite of the look of a small provincial town.

I passed through Samsun again in 2012. It had become a bustling modern city and I didn't recognize anything at all. My visit was limited to about 20 minutes at the bus station.

I scanned this from an Agfacolor CT 18 slide.

papagolf21, Fis2, ikeharel, pierrefonds, jhm, Royaldevon, bertolucci, PiotrF, macjake, gervaso, mcmtanyel, kordinator, aliabazari, COSTANTINO, bukitgolfb301, Hansaphotos, jean113, jean113, lucasgalodoido, alvaraalto, alvaraalto has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

papagolf21 (152599) 2020-02-12 0:25

Bonjour, cher Gert,
Heureusement que vous teniez un journal pour pouvoir rendre compte de la description des lieux.
La machine à remonter le temps est bien agréable.
Très bonne journée.
Amitiés.
Philippe

Fis2 (155487) 2020-02-12 0:41

Witaj Gert!
Excellent reportage shot from street.
Good framing and colors.
I like this scene from daily life.
Good morning.
Krzysztof

Silvio1953 (205549) 2020-02-12 0:44

Ciao Gert, nice urban view full odf life, good perspective, excellent clarity, fine details, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

mesutilgim (0) 2020-02-12 1:01

Hello Gert,
Another perfect "oldie" in your gallery. Taken with perfect pov and layout as well as sharpness.
Almost half a century old but perfect.
The sign "Sezak" at the left part was a quite famous brand for carpets once upon a time, which unfortunately does not exist any more.
As allways in your case, many good and usefull notes.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

pajaran (102508) 2020-02-12 1:08

Pozdrav.
Lep pogled i trenutak, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lepa ulica i fasade kuca.
Lepo pokazano, dobar rad skeniranjem.
Lepa deo grada i minaret u pozadini, lepa ulicna scena.
Zelim vam lep idan, sve najbolje.
Paja.

Greeting.
Nice view and moment, interesting and good text ...
Nice street and house facades.
Beautifully demonstrated, good scanning work.
Nice part of town and minaret in the background, nice street scene.
I wish you a nice one, all the best.

lousat (129865) 2020-02-12 2:44

Hi Gert,the things changes quickly,so this city,now very big,is completely different now and this pic remains a great memory another time,a nothing of special but a very good watch on the street life,the quality is very very high! Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

pierrefonds (103424) 2020-02-12 4:55

Hi Gert,

You have captured well a daily life scene. The point of view is showing the details of the mini-bus and of the buildings. It is clera and precise. Have a nice day.

Pierre

jhm (202871) 2020-02-12 5:38

Hello Gert,

This is real a daily life picture.
Excellent depth and perspective image.
Very well composition, nice captured.
Nice done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

Sergiom (117241) 2020-02-12 6:45

Bonjour Gert,

Tu nous a fait longtemps languir avant de sortir cette très jolie scène de la vie quotidienne dans cette région du monde. Tout semblait plus lent à l'époque.

Amicalement

Serge

Tue (82124) 2020-02-12 8:12

Hej Gert,
Et udmærket billede med byen og gadelivet, der er meget at se og mange mennesker som enten var travlt med deres arbejde eller også bare sad og så på de andre. Jeg kan godt forestille mig at byen har ændret sig meget i de sidste årtier og man ikke kan kende det hele tilbage mere.
Jeg tror at min far har travlt med mange andre ting, indrette huset påny med mange nye møbler, læse bøger og male, men han er i hvert fald ikke syg som jeg var, så jeg håber han også vender tilbage snart.
Lars

GyurMaster (21293) 2020-02-12 8:53

Dear Gert,

This one is a typicall Gertian nothing special, unlike your postcard with two photos before. It looks like a page from Richard Scarry's Busy Town: everyone is engaged in his activity be it packing a car, pulling a hand-cart or just simply relaxing on the corner of the street and looking at the others. The bg too offers details to be observed, like the Minaret. In the far bg am I see a hill with buildings?

Best Wishes,
Gy.

Royaldevon (75252) 2020-02-12 9:18

Hello Gert,

I just love to see the contrasts in the forms of travel/transport. Cars.and handcarts are not what you would expect on a European road, even in 1971! I imagine you didn’t experience such contrasts on your return journey! But how wonderful to actually see things like this together. I just love the ‘campervan’! Can you imagine the interest it would generate in today’s markets!
Th ere is a real eclectic mix of buildings, too.You have only taken one photograph but it is well composed and contains a very period scene.

My warm regards,
Bev 😊😩

bertolucci (14052) 2020-02-12 9:40

Hej Gert, Again a very fine scan and its good to see that you exposed the slide well in 71- and slides can be tricky, highlights are easily lost. What I like a lot here is the atmosphere of a provoncial town - relxed but bustling with well rendered activity. And ofcourse the large vision is appreciated. Enjoy your evening, Bert.

jmdias (102770) 2020-02-12 11:40

gert

many interesting details and personages.the pine tree, the minaret, the cart with tapestries, the red car, the man with that rustic cart. very nice view.

take care

jorge

Miguel82 (47106) 2020-02-12 12:17

Gert, the picture shows Samsun residents going about their business. Some men use wooden carts with wheels to carry goods. I like the vintage car on the right. A minaret appears in the bg. The image has a good depth. Fine colors, good sharpness, interesting photo note, regards.

PiotrF (52330) 2020-02-12 17:02

Hello Gert,
An interesting picture from Samsun.
Thank you for informative notes.
I like interesting daily life scene, nice colours and good composition.
Fine presentation.
Regards
Piotr

Nicou (193806) 2020-02-12 21:30

Hello

superbe vue et image quelle rue et captage ce bus rouge ces autres charrette tirée qui se contrastent animation de la vie de tous les jours ce minaret qui ressort en fond ces arbre quel ensemble et coupe de la vie quotidienne de cette rue superbe
Bravo et belle journée
Nciou

ifege (32053) 2020-02-12 21:39

Hi Gert
A good one with the inevitable carpet shop. A good old street photo.
cheers
Ian

macjake (96157) 2020-02-12 21:40

Hi Gert
now this is just too good. You know i'm going to like this one all because of the vehicle, its so much fun as a car guy like me, to go back in the past and see them in real life situations. glad you were able to include the signs too, they always add another layer of visual interest. so much going on here, this is one of your better ones for sure. cheers
Craig

ChrisJ (159918) 2020-02-13 6:11

Hej Gert

My bus did stop in Samsun otogar where I changed buses for Sinop, a smaller and quieter town. But I did not spend any time in this town at all outside of the bus station. All the streets leading to the Black sea were crowded with people going to and from holiday apartments. I don't think you'd like the changes I saw in 2014. A good daily life scene anyway and that bg hill is now covered completely with apartment buildings. Good scanning and sharpness. Tfs!

gervaso (28177) 2020-02-13 16:42

Hello, Gert!

Another interesting old photo of your archive that makes us imagine how this place must be now, completely different as you mention in your note. It looks like such a calm place, where everybody knows each other. Beautiful composition! Very nice job!

mcmtanyel (58830) 2020-02-13 21:24

Hello Gert,
That red Ford Transit dolmuş is an eye-catcher. Another photo that brings back childhood memories. 👍🏻👍🏻
Regards,
MT

emka (152102) 2020-02-13 23:51

Hello Gert, The quality of this picture is simply incredible. The colours are natural and the sharpness is simply stunning. I wish my old pictures were like this! Many very interesting details like this red taxi or dolmus, the carts, typical narrow minaret... Lovely blue house. Behind the minaret there is an open space, probably now there are buildings there. You seem to think with a nostalgy that there were fewer people then. The world population was over 3.7 billion, now it is 7.7.
Spectacular picture.

Kind regards MAlgo

kordinator (8738) 2020-02-14 1:55

Der Gert
This is real a daily life and street life scene.
Excellent depth and perspective.
Very nice image rich of details and colors.
Kind regards
Saša

ikeharel (105835) 2020-02-14 6:48

Hello Gert,
Marvelous street action and daily life going on from long time ago - looks as just yesterday taken, as far as quality.
Clear and distinct, bravo.
Good afternoon,
Ike

*** Point are not importent, your critque among other's written notes that's what makes the difference. Thanks.

aliabazari (18418) 2020-02-14 20:37

Hi Gert
A very beautiful view of the daily life of the Turkish people in 1971. Good clarity and exposure. Thanks for sharing

COSTANTINO (104029) 2020-02-14 22:48

Hello dear Gert and have a nice time
and a happy weekend
another interesting photo for me
from Samsun presenting people
living their ordinary lives
in August 1971...
a photo taken with perfect pov
and having interesting details
from the past...
welldone
regards
Costantino

kasianowak (15760) 2020-02-15 10:21

Hi Gert
I wish you had taken a photo of this street in 2012 but I'm sure it was not possible during your 20 minute stopover. And I'm not certain I would like the look of this now big city. If this is the city centre then it was a lovely place, quaint and at the same vibrant in a good way. The photo makes me want to be there but I know it looks completely different now.
What was nothing special all those years ago, is very special now, especially the various vehicles. Turkey has changed a lot, just like the size of its cities.
Best wishes
Kasia
Ps. To be fair to the British people - if a Muslim (or Polish) immigrant broke their leg in Bushy Park (especially a child abandoned by their family) lots of people would stop and try to help and someone would call an ambulance etc. Even more so than in the case of a goose. I think the only occasion when an injured person would be left to their own resources in any country is the time of war or civil unrest.
What seems to be a problem, for some reason, is the long-term commitment of living next to someone in some way different. I think it's a mixture of a. animal side of human nature b. upbringing by parents who had always lived surrounded by people of the same nationality c. having spent the whole life surrounded by people of the same nationality (at home, at work, always travelling in a group) d. the propaganda pumped into people's heads by populist politicians etc. In this order.

bukitgolfb301 (53894) 2020-02-15 17:37

Hi dear Gert, how are you?

I have been absent for a long time but I will back a bit by bit. And thank your very much for your warm waord to me. I am so happy to see that you are so active and your posting images remain so fantatsic as same as before.
Again your time machine strats to work. 49 years Turkey is here---. Very precious and so nostalgic presentation at all. I wonder how different from now, whenever I see your great archive images.

All the best and have a good Sunday! Takero

Hansaphotos (11379) 2020-02-16 2:58

Hei Gert

Vel, du utnyttet i alle fall de 20 minuttene godt. Det har fanget godt det yrende folkelivet. Mannen med handvogn, som er på vei mot fotografen, vekker minner for meg, fra det yrende folkelivet som en gang var her i Bergen og fisketorget. Da var nemlig handvogner som dette et vanlig syn. Mannen helt til venstre i bildet ser ut til å ha inntatt rollen som observatør, på samme måte som fotografen, mens de fleste andre ser ut til å være i gang med dagens dont. Du har fanget det hele i et fint lys. Den røde Ford Transiten er iøynefallende, og står i kontrast til de to andre transportmidlene i gaten. Herlig bilde:)

Hilsen Erling

jean113 (21977) 2020-02-17 7:19

Hello Gert, I like your 'nothing special' pictures, showing everyday life, and this one has lots to offer. People of all ages doing a variety of things.
Very good quality scan.
Kind regards, Jean.

lucasgalodoido (26918) 2020-02-18 8:43

Olá Gert,
bonita essa foto antiga mesmo, a composição ficou primorosa, parece até um postal. Belo registro.
Parabéns e Abraço,
Lucas

alvaraalto (42234) 2020-02-21 3:57

Hello Gert,
I first read some books and finished some paintings, which meant that TE temporarily had a low priority. The advantage of retirement is that it is easier to organize your own time.
You have not relaxed in the meantime and you have continued to show us the 1971 Turkey. From a political point of view, a very different country than nowadays.
An interesting series that I will watch carefully.
Have a nice day, groet Rob