Photo of the day

Digimonkey said:
Images of Ataturk - (3) -

View attachment 30450

Ataturk and the Whirling Dervishes - The Museum of the Printing Press - Sultanahmet.

I could not believe my luck when this picture presented itself to me - it pretty much symbolises everything about Ataturk's vision of his modernisation process in the Republic. A bit of background is probably necessary why this is so for me. In the foreground are the famed whirling dervishes of the Sufi Mevlevi order. If you know what Sufis are skip this next bit - if not read on. The name Sufi probably is a corruption of the Arabic for wool - historically they wore rough woolen garments. The various fraternities trace their lineage - and hence authority - back to the time of the Prophet or his son-in-law Ali. Simply put they are the mystical tradition in Islam. They tend to be Sunnis but this is missing the point - they sort of sit above the great schism in Islam. The theological differences between them and mainstream Islam are horribly complex - trust me - but the most important thing is that Sufis understand that you can have direct ecstatic experience of the love of Allah during your life - and not solely post-mortem, as is the more commonly held position. They use various methods to achieve this state - and this is one of them. The dancers' spinning is perhaps best understood as dynamic meditation. In the west probably the most famous Sufi was the 13th C. poet and prose writer Rumi - who is even now, one of the biggest selling poets in the United States - for some reason beyond me, he has been taken up by the new age movement. I'm sure it would have puzzled him too. Commonly Sufis were the power behind the throne - and this was certainly true of the Ottoman period. It might sound odd for ascetics to end up so but it isn't really - if you want a medieval Christian comparison then the Cistercian monk Bernard of Clairvaux and his influence on the second crusade is a good place to start. So - after Ataturk abolished the Sultanate and the Caliphate in the 1920's he went for the Sufi orders next. They were never truly proscribed but heavily suppressed - their property seized, their rituals banned and they were politically emasculated. What remained was what you see above - something for tourists. So - this picture was taken in the museum of the printing press in Sultanahmet - the home tekke of the order was closed for renovation at the time - in the background is Attaturk reading a daily newspaper. What better symbol of progress in 1920s Turkey? Bear in mind that it took nearly 300 years from the invention of the movable type press to the first one to start printing in Turkish - then an Arabic script - but Ataturk changed that too - to the adapted Latin they use today. Although the ritual was devoid of any spiritual content - is was mesmerising to see.

View attachment 30451

Book shop window - Istiklal Caddesi, Beyoglu.

So - Attaturk flanked by - on his left - 'The Guinness Book of Records' and - on the right - 'Harry Potter.' Below that 'The Turks Today' - which is actually very good. Underpinned by Coca Cola. Eighty odd years later - I'll leave you to interpret this picture as you see fit.

Thank you for looking and reading - yours - I.

@Barry Giddens @Blademonkey @Helveticum @William Dobson
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Very intresting indeed.
Keep them comming if you have more :)

Coca Cola is present just about everywhere along with A Big Mac and fries!
 
Images of Ataturk - part the last.

SR-Ata1.jpg

The window of the gift shop - Topkapi Palace.

The Topkapi palace complex - on the Seraglio Point - was the seat of the Ottoman rulers from shortly after they took the then Constantinople in 1453 - and started to remake the city in their own fashion - until the late 17th/early 18th c. when administrative control was gradually moved to more modern buildings on the Bosphorous shore down below. At its greatest extent - in the late 17th c. - Ottoman territory comprised what is - part of or most of - now Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Greece, Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - some nearly 2,000,000 square miles - and that does not include the territory controlled by vassals. The empire was pretty much moribund - and pretty much limited to what we understand as modern Turkey - when Ataturk came to abolish the office of the Sultan and the Caliph. These were two separate things - for the greater part of the life of the empire they ran in parallel. The first Sultan was Osman I in 1299 but the title Caliph was not taken until 1362 by Murad I - a bit shaky as a claim to be honest - but solidified by - the gloriously named - Selim the Grim in 1517 when he took Mecca and Medina - and became the 'leader of the faithful, protector of pilgrims' and 'protector of the two holy places.' This is why the last Sultan was Mehmet VI in 1922 but the final Caliph was Abdulmecid II - there was no Sultanate to inherit - in 1924. The 'royal' and indeed 'holy' family were exiled by Ataturk but they gradually were allowed back and they live there as private citizens with the surname Osmanoglu to this day. So - back to the shop window - that took a while. The Topkapi might be a museum dedicated to the Ottomans but there is no doubt who ended up in charge? That's the message. Oh - there are three people in this picture - two are fairly easy to spot, can you see the third?

SR-Ata5.jpg

Art shop - Pera.

I just like the shape of it.

SR-Istan25.jpg

Night watchman's booth - underneath the Galata Bridge.

Let's end on a more personal note - what seems to be a spontaneous expression of national identity and allegiance.

Turkey is a very different place now compared to when these pictures were taken. I say no more.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at the pictures and reading the words - you got off lightly - it could have been a whole lot longer - yours - I.

@Barry Giddens @Blademonkey @William Dobson
 
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Digimonkey said:
Images of Ataturk - part the last.

View attachment 30483

The window of the gift shop - Topkapi Palace.

The Topkapi palace complex - on the Seraglio Point - was the seat of the Ottoman rulers from shortly after they took the then Constantinople in 1453 - and started to remake the city in their own fashion - until the late 17th/early 18th c. when administrative control was gradually moved to more modern buildings on the Bosphorous shore down below. At its greatest extent - in the late 17th c. - Ottoman territory comprised what is - part of or most of - now Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Greece, Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - some nearly 2,000,000 square miles - and that does not include the territory controlled by vassals. The empire was pretty much moribund - and pretty much limited to what we understand as modern Turkey - when Ataturk came to abolish the office of the Sultan and the Caliph. These were two separate things - for the greater part of the life of the empire they ran in parallel. The first Sultan was Osman I in 1299 but the title Caliph was not taken until 1362 by Murad I - a bit shaky as a claim to be honest - but solidified by - the gloriously named - Selim the Grim in 1517 when he took Mecca and Medina - and became the 'leader of the faithful, protector of pilgrims' and 'protector of the the two holy places.' This is why the last Sultan was Mehmet VI in 1922 but the final Caliph was Abdulmecid II - there was no Sultanate to inherit - in 1924. The 'royal' and indeed 'holy' family were exiled by Ataturk but they gradually were allowed back and they live there as private citizens with the surname Osmanoglu to this day. So - back to the shop window - that took a while. The Topkapi might be a museum dedicated to the Ottomans but there is no doubt who ended up in charge? That's the message. Oh - there are three people in this picture - two are fairly easy to spot, can you see the third?

View attachment 30484

Art shop - Pera.

I just like the shape of it.

View attachment 30485

Night watchman's booth - underneath the Galata Bridge.

Let's end on a more personal note - what seems to be a spontaneous expression of national identity and allegiance.

Turkey is a very different place now compared to when these pictures were taken. I say no more.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at the pictures and reading the words - you got off lightly - it could have been a whole lot longer - yours - I.

@Barry Giddens @Blademonkey @William Dobson
Click to expand...
Well the second picture is fascinating, I'm seeing some weird stuff, relfections to the far right, a reflection of you with your camera up at your face but there is something just under the shelf bracket ,slightly to the left....you have to zoom in but I can't quite make it out! What is it or am I just chasing shadows?! great reflections in the top pic. :) nice write up too :)
 
Digimonkey said:
Images of Ataturk - part the last.

View attachment 30483

The window of the gift shop - Topkapi Palace.

The Topkapi palace complex - on the Seraglio Point - was the seat of the Ottoman rulers from shortly after they took the then Constantinople in 1453 - and started to remake the city in their own fashion - until the late 17th/early 18th c. when administrative control was gradually moved to more modern buildings on the Bosphorous shore down below. At its greatest extent - in the late 17th c. - Ottoman territory comprised what is - part of or most of - now Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Greece, Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - some nearly 2,000,000 square miles - and that does not include the territory controlled by vassals. The empire was pretty much moribund - and pretty much limited to what we understand as modern Turkey - when Ataturk came to abolish the office of the Sultan and the Caliph. These were two separate things - for the greater part of the life of the empire they ran in parallel. The first Sultan was Osman I in 1299 but the title Caliph was not taken until 1362 by Murad I - a bit shaky as a claim to be honest - but solidified by - the gloriously named - Selim the Grim in 1517 when he took Mecca and Medina - and became the 'leader of the faithful, protector of pilgrims' and 'protector of the two holy places.' This is why the last Sultan was Mehmet VI in 1922 but the final Caliph was Abdulmecid II - there was no Sultanate to inherit - in 1924. The 'royal' and indeed 'holy' family were exiled by Ataturk but they gradually were allowed back and they live there as private citizens with the surname Osmanoglu to this day. So - back to the shop window - that took a while. The Topkapi might be a museum dedicated to the Ottomans but there is no doubt who ended up in charge? That's the message. Oh - there are three people in this picture - two are fairly easy to spot, can you see the third?

View attachment 30484

Art shop - Pera.

I just like the shape of it.

View attachment 30485

Night watchman's booth - underneath the Galata Bridge.

Let's end on a more personal note - what seems to be a spontaneous expression of national identity and allegiance.

Turkey is a very different place now compared to when these pictures were taken. I say no more.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at the pictures and reading the words - you got off lightly - it could have been a whole lot longer - yours - I.

@Barry Giddens @Blademonkey @William Dobson
Click to expand...
Thank you for a superb series Iain. I'm just sorry that it wasn't 'a whole lot longer'. First class.
 
Helveticum said:
Ok, so the wankers nearby can't scan b&w for their life, and colour goes up to 300dpi, which is not even a joke. Will have to postpone this until I get to my friend and his DSLR with macro.
In the meantime, another preview from Famagusta.
22688683_1498325086869508_1312601348181726261_n.jpg

QL17 Giii with Ilford XP2. Will see if I can get more sharpness out of it after properly scanning.
Click to expand...
In the past, I had very good results with scanning XP2. It's an amazing, fine grained, film (of course I know it's dyed, not grained, being a C41 process film). I typically overexposed by about 1 stop; seemed to give the best results for me. However, I sold my scanner, since the whole scanning process was too time consuming for me.

I have never tried a DSLR with macro lens for film scanning, but that should work well, I believe.
 
Digimonkey said:
Images of Ataturk - part the last.

View attachment 30483

The window of the gift shop - Topkapi Palace.

The Topkapi palace complex - on the Seraglio Point - was the seat of the Ottoman rulers from shortly after they took the then Constantinople in 1453 - and started to remake the city in their own fashion - until the late 17th/early 18th c. when administrative control was gradually moved to more modern buildings on the Bosphorous shore down below. At its greatest extent - in the late 17th c. - Ottoman territory comprised what is - part of or most of - now Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Greece, Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - some nearly 2,000,000 square miles - and that does not include the territory controlled by vassals. The empire was pretty much moribund - and pretty much limited to what we understand as modern Turkey - when Ataturk came to abolish the office of the Sultan and the Caliph. These were two separate things - for the greater part of the life of the empire they ran in parallel. The first Sultan was Osman I in 1299 but the title Caliph was not taken until 1362 by Murad I - a bit shaky as a claim to be honest - but solidified by - the gloriously named - Selim the Grim in 1517 when he took Mecca and Medina - and became the 'leader of the faithful, protector of pilgrims' and 'protector of the two holy places.' This is why the last Sultan was Mehmet VI in 1922 but the final Caliph was Abdulmecid II - there was no Sultanate to inherit - in 1924. The 'royal' and indeed 'holy' family were exiled by Ataturk but they gradually were allowed back and they live there as private citizens with the surname Osmanoglu to this day. So - back to the shop window - that took a while. The Topkapi might be a museum dedicated to the Ottomans but there is no doubt who ended up in charge? That's the message. Oh - there are three people in this picture - two are fairly easy to spot, can you see the third?

View attachment 30484

Art shop - Pera.

I just like the shape of it.

View attachment 30485

Night watchman's booth - underneath the Galata Bridge.

Let's end on a more personal note - what seems to be a spontaneous expression of national identity and allegiance.

Turkey is a very different place now compared to when these pictures were taken. I say no more.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at the pictures and reading the words - you got off lightly - it could have been a whole lot longer - yours - I.

@Barry Giddens @Blademonkey @William Dobson
Click to expand...
Another great one, Ian. Thanks.

After reading all this I'm applying for credit at the Universidad a Distance and should be well on my way toward a combined masters degree in Turkish History and Fine Arts Appreciation with an emphasis in photography.
 
Blademonkey said:
Well the second picture is fascinating, I'm seeing some weird stuff, relfections to the far right, a reflection of you with your camera up at your face but there is something just under the shelf bracket ,slightly to the left....you have to zoom in but I can't quite make it out! What is it or am I just chasing shadows?! great reflections in the top pic. :) nice write up too :)
Click to expand...

Evening P. - right mate - I am now as confused as you.

Picture 1) Me and the guy on the right - owner of the hand picking up the tin foreground - are fairly obvious. If you look above my left shoulder there is a woman's face. My other half actually - didn't see that at the time when I took it.

picture 2) I can't see myself in this picture - where am I? The stuff on the right are people behind me in the street. There is something under the bracket - you are right. I don't know what it is though.

It's one of the attractions of this sort of picture - you don't know what you have until you get the negs back - you can't see all the details as you compose the pictures. A gift from the monkey god - as we say in the trade.

Yours - I.
 
Digimonkey said:
Evening P. - right mate - I am now as confused as you.

Picture 1) Me and the guy on the right - owner of the hand picking up the tin foreground - are fairly obvious. If you look above my left shoulder there is a woman's face. My other half actually - didn't see that at the time when I took it.

picture 2) I can't see myself in this picture - where am I? The stuff on the right are people behind me in the street. There is something under the bracket - you are right. I don't know what it is though.

It's one of the attractions of this sort of picture - you don't know what you have until you get the negs back - you can't see all the details as you compose the pictures. A gift from the monkey god - as we say in the trade.

Yours - I.
Click to expand...
A gift indeed :) P.
 
Digimonkey said:
Evening P. - right mate - I am now as confused as you.

Picture 1) Me and the guy on the right - owner of the hand picking up the tin foreground - are fairly obvious. If you look above my left shoulder there is a woman's face. My other half actually - didn't see that at the time when I took it.

picture 2) I can't see myself in this picture - where am I? The stuff on the right are people behind me in the street. There is something under the bracket - you are right. I don't know what it is though.

It's one of the attractions of this sort of picture - you don't know what you have until you get the negs back - you can't see all the details as you compose the pictures. A gift from the monkey god - as we say in the trade.

Yours - I.
Click to expand...
Is that not your reflection under the hand of the artist model on the right? Possibly not but it was fun looking......where's Waldo?! :) P.
 
Blademonkey said:
Is that not your reflection under the hand of the artist model on the right? Possibly not but it was fun looking......where's Waldo?! :) P.
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P. - I think you are entirely right. The bottom three fingers on my right hand anyway. Never noticed that before. This is all a bit confusing? I'll need to go and find some nice fluffy landscape pictures? I think this is why my friends and family live in fear of my 'holiday' pictures. Ha ha. Actually they don't ask to see them anymore. No shit. Yours - I.
 
Digimonkey said:
P. - I think you are entirely right. The bottom three fingers on my right hand anyway. Never noticed that before. This is all a bit confusing? I'll need to go and find some nice fluffy landscape pictures? I think this is why my friends and family live in fear of my 'holiday' pictures. Ha ha. Actually they don't ask to see them anymore. No shit. Yours - I.
Click to expand...
Well I find them fascinating, I love reflections. The more you look you more you see and then your mind starts playing tricks! :) P.
 
Digimonkey said:
P. - I think you are entirely right. The bottom three fingers on my right hand anyway. Never noticed that before. This is all a bit confusing? I'll need to go and find some nice fluffy landscape pictures? I think this is why my friends and family live in fear of my 'holiday' pictures. Ha ha. Actually they don't ask to see them anymore. No shit. Yours - I.
Click to expand...
Speaking of details: I spelled your name wrong. I apologize for my mistake.
 
SR-Jura1.jpg

Sunset over the Isle of Jura - it's the tiny sliver of land in between the sea and the sky - at the bottom of this picture. Where the whisky comes from. Nice high altitude clouds picking up the last of the light. It was an incredibly calm night - I think there was a huge high pressure system sitting over us. Even as a dedicated black and white film user - I've never got it right - sunsets with monochrome?. Some situations just need colour film. I didn't have any with me. Nikon F3 and a 20mm Nikkor lens. FP-4. Yours - I.

@Barry Giddens @Blademonkey @Helveticum @William Dobson
 
Digimonkey said:
View attachment 30550

Sunset over the Isle of Jura - it's the tiny sliver of land in between the sea and the sky - at the bottom of this picture. Where the whisky comes from. Nice high altitude clouds picking up the last of the light. It was an incredibly calm night - I think there was a huge high pressure system sitting over us. Even as a dedicated black and white film user - I've never got it right - sunsets with monochrome?. Some situations just need colour film. I didn't have any with me. Nikon F3 and a 20mm Nikkor lens. FP-4. Yours - I.

@Barry Giddens @Blademonkey @Helveticum @William Dobson
Click to expand...
A stunning picture Iain and all the more so being monochrome imo.
Paul.
 
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