Latmos mountains

On the road to Marmaris between Mugla and Cine the road passes along the Latmos Mountains and winds between strange smooth shaped rocks. The afternoon light reinforces the strangeness of the giant stones. 

The Hunters' association

The front of the local hunters' association in a small village close to Seferihisar (Izmir). The small building is used as a coffee-shop as well.

After the rain

I appreciate especially a walk after the rain at the seafront. The shore is almost deserted, the air is clear and the light beautiful. It is easy to like the rain when it is so rare, only around 60 days like this one, with always a pale sun projecting his weak rays between two clouds and two downpours, an alternace of grays and hilights.

moorings

Any chain can keep a boat away from the open sea, she will let herself die and sink in the water she loves instead.
Today looking at this picture from my archives (my pocket camera Lumix LX2 with the Leitz zoom) Azanavour's song came to my mind. Here are links to Youtube french vintage copy, a recent french version and a recent concert with the English version too. If you read french profit of the original, the poesie of the french text is not found in the english version, unfortunately. At the time of the song was first published most of the French Colonies had been granted independence, there were no way to spend holiday time abroad for the concept of holiday by the sea was quiet new and reserved for a class with some financial capabilities, owning a private car and thus able to reach the mediterranean and atlantic shores.

After the rain

After the rain the shore is almost deserted, it is a perfect time to stroll along the seafront.

Carferry

The bare decks of the carferry Esenköy remain silent, even the waves frapping the hull in a lazy rhythm do not succeed to awake the mass of steel of the old lady. She seems deserted right now but in less than an hour the barriers will open and she will be assaulted by trucks and cars and hundreds of passengers rushing up the long and straight stairs leading to the upper deck and to the saloon with his hot glass of tea and cups of Turkish coffee awaiting. Late comers will probably not find a place for their cars and have to take the ring and its 50 km to meet the city south-west end.

Morning frost

The pale morning sunrays wash out the cold of the night but pain to warm this wasteland of the industrial zone and dissipate the frost.

waiting for 2012

The new year eve is also a commercial event and for many the occasion to fill the safe with fresh cash before the year closure. This empty restaurant is prepared and expecting his last 2011 clients. 

Concrete Crown

The Atatürk Stadium was build for the 1971 Mediterranean games and designed to host 50'000 people, it hosted indeed up to 80'000 for a derby in the early 80ies. The Stadium was long the second largest in the country and is dedicated to athleticism beside his regular (soccer for US friends) football ground. Here is a part of the stadium upper structure.

The Fishermen

A 3 hours rotation is requested to place the nets for the night. The next day the fishermen leave the pier at 7 am for another 3 hours trip to collect the nets. Than back to the port they have to collect the fish if ever there are, clean and repair the net for the next night. 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Sometime they do not pay even the fuel with the sales. Even when the nest are filled up to crack open, the prices drop at the level a loaf of bread. I wonder if we will still see fishermen and fishes in ten years from now because I do not seen young man willing to learn the craft. Wich one will desappear first, the fish or the fisherman?

(note: except the close up on the hand coming from an other boat it is a single team who is reported here)

winter tree

The winter comes late in Izmir, and doesn’t last long. Since mid December we have had some colder nights, especially last week with even one night a zero Celsius! What an indelicacy! The rare deciduous trees lost almost all their leaves by now and seem raising their branches praying for the spring to come.

Snowmen get long holiday

Soon the snowman and his countless twins will be warehoused for a year waiting for another Christmas time to make kids and parents smiles happy to share and offer gifts.

Carferry (archive)

A passenger hides in the shadow of the carferry deck, the light hits through the window with blurred reflection.

Pelicans

Pelicans share a habit with cats. Both they wander around fishermen waiting to grab some wasted fish while the men clean and repair their nets. This photograph's hi-lights are overexposed, hope to make a better one one of these days.

After the rain a shy sunlight pierces the clouds and light up the promenade of the gulf shore

mist

The fumes from the coal heated boilers blur the air ... and our lungs. Despite natural gaz is available many houses keep using cheap coal to heat during the not so cold short winter. Unfortunately this give a false romantic atmosphere and an irrespirable air, or the contrary.

sunset

A man went to the seashore with his bicycle and sit on a bench to look at the sunset and the fisherman working in the bey. Fishermen are more like miners than fishermen actually, they dig in the mud in 1 meter of waters to find some sort of edible shells. The stay hours in the cold water with old worn diving suits.

After the Rain

We have around 60 days of rain per year, and most of the time it rarely rains for more than a few hours, the sun shines again in the next half a day. But this year so far we can count rain occurrences on one hand, the last was this week, in the evening and I didn't have the opportunity to shot. I do not like the rain especially (this is why I live here) but still I like photographs taken after the rain when the sky is clear with a low winter sun and the ground still wet. Beside my selfish pleasure the dams are damn low and we will face a difficult year if the rain doesn't show. Well, to come back to the topic this is from my archive, a day like the one I miss: after the rain, 15 Celsius and a sweet sun trying to dry out the ground.

Mustafa, the kid of Caratash

Caratash as written in Levantine or Karataş in modern Turkish is an old quarter of Izmir, just 1 1/2 km far from the trade center and 2 km from the port. I will come back to this old and picturesque area later with more pictures. The quarter is populated by upper middle class in its front side and less favoured families in the upper segments, you will better understand the reason why in later posts. 

Sometime I took a photograph to serve as documentary even if I do not see an artistic value, testimony of things that may change or to serve to show some places to people who didn't had the chance to visit. I was taking a picture of an old house twin front doors when a handful of kids ran in the street. Squeezing myself against the opposite wall to try to have the largest coverage with the prime the last of kids stopped just in the middle and started to dance. A second more and he ran again to reach his friends, I just had the time to trigger twice and ask his name, he answered loudly while running : Mustafa.

The house behind is one of the rare old houses still "standing", they are now protected but it costs a hell to renovate so often the land owner keep it empty waiting for better times. More photographs from Caratash to come.

Ferry's passengers

A couple sit on the stern deck of this old classic ferry. In 20 minutes ferries link north and south sides of the bay sparring time and proposing fresh orange juice and tea along the way. We get sometime very close to container ships and have to tack between the giant vessels. I will come soon with some more photographs of the bay and these impressive vessels.