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)

One friend is enough

The light was not very good for such shot but I liked the idea of these two old friends watching at the sea and their bicycle not far laying against a signpost.

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.

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.

waiting for the ferry

10 minutes left before the ferry leaves for the other side a fulled geared fellow makes some picture of his partner, I am with the crowd already jailed in the pier's narrow building.

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.

The tree

Some pictures, before you take it you know you will process it in BW shades. Once one have to make his choice before to load the camera with a roll of colour or panchro film, except for the lucky and courageous carrying 7 glasses and 2 or 3 bodies :) . Today it seems easier since one just have to shot and shot again. Still we have to make a choice, here it is.

You probably already met "the tree" in other of my photographs, alone in the very shoreline I just can keep picturing it.

Kids

This series doesn't need much comments. Let's the kids enjoy the pigeons' fly.

A sunny weekend after a "Highland" week

We rarely have a full day of rain in Izmir. When a morning is rainy the afternoon is usually sunny. But last week we had a full cloudy/rainy week, we barely saw the direct sunlight. The gulf waters went darkened by low flying grey clouds . Thanks all is back to normal: a windy sunny Saturday. Early in the morning (or not so early it's around 9 o'clock) the promenade is almost empty. Colourful balloon of the fire range survived the lack of challengers and wait for a better hand. Two hours later on my way back the chapmen start to fill the place and meet the first walkers. The soaked land is still no good to lazily lay down in the grass or for the kids to play but the seaside looks great.

Fishermen back from fishing clean the nets or have some rest. Someone shoes are drying under the sun. After the windy days workers have to clean up the shore of tossed wastes. A food&drink seller heat himself at the sun while a dozen of water-bottles and a bag of sunflower seeds await the client, not a big enterprise. Another prepare kites, sure to make good business in such days with a strong wind. The inflatable toys seller keep his breath and prepare his bike to expose his merchandises.