
Triggered by a Leica IIIa, thanks to Dennis and Chris, I have been writing about old cameras and sharing photographs from the film days of photography. It may feel like an archeology dig, “a long, long time ago when people used sensitized plastic strips inside their cameras,” but I bought two rolls of B&W film today and even successfully loaded the notoriously difficult-to-load Leica IIIa. There are two more in this series, part1, and part 3.
Very Early Film Days
In this post, I will share a collection of B&W photographs ranging in date from the early film days of the 1960s to the 1980s. The opening photograph is probably the earliest one among them, taken somewhere near Karaman when we stopped for breakfast at a dairy. As I was admiring the thick, heavy cream (kaymak) rolled neatly, I saw this girl waiting to fill a bottle with fresh milk. I must admit, it is one of my all-time favorites.
Early Film Days
Diocaesarea, known as Uzuncaburc is on the Taurus Mountains not far from Silifke on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Home to several temples and other Roman ruins mixed with current village life. I asked a little girl if she knew who lived there earlier and left these historic ruins. She thought for a moment and said: “tourists lived here before us!” Not too far from Silifke is another interesting site, Kanlidivane, where I photographed the shy village girl against the wall.
The three mosaic photographs are from what is now Misis Mosaic Museum. Misis is near Adana and, as I recall, the mosaics were on the floor of a small house. As we entered, the attendant splashed some water on them so that we could see them more easily! If you search for the museum, you can see similar photographs, even in color!
Goreme is similar in rock formations to Utah’s Bryce Canyon but on a smaller scale. What we call “hoodoos” in Bryce are called “fairy chimneys” in Goreme. It also houses many early churches carved into the rocks that kept them out of sight. Some of them are surprisingly large. In one of the photographs, you can see the tell-tale sign of the hand-of-man.
Kadincik Dam is a power plant lake around the Taurus Mountains. The dam project was undertaken by Cukurova Elektrik, where my father used to work. We visited the area and I was struck by the rock formations and took a series of photographs. You see a few here.
Then, we go to Andirin and a village not far from it where I spent time with a good friend. The women on the flat roof were spreading bulgur wheat to dry. And the woman with a scarf was my friend’s mother. You will see a relative of theirs proudly showing the bird ready for or coming from a cock-fight.
The old man and the three kids are from my second visit to Doganca, the little village in Thrace that started my photographic interest. Although I cannot date them, my guess is the middle 1960s is when I took them.
Those were the days, I would develop my own B&W film and make my prints in a converted kitchen darkroom! This is the second batch of the film-days photographs. There will be one more, whether you like it or not!!
Don
My great uncle George Weld was a professional photographer in Santa Barbara many years ago. Your photographs of Diocaesarea remind me of his incredibly rich contrast studies shot large format with Panasonic X and printed large. All these years later they are memorable for their rich hues of the fine grained film. Good memories of a medium that is all but lost. Thanks
Cemal Ekin
I am glad to have triggered good memories, Don like this new Leica did to me! I will search his name to see if any of his work have been converted to digital for online viewing. I also got your e-mail heads up, thanks. I think a lot of people on my list were not receiving these updates.
Cemal
Binnaz Melin
Ülkemizin artık uzağımızdaki görüntülerini ve gençlik günlerimizi geri getirdiğin için nasıl teşekkür edeceğimi bilemiyorum kardeşim. Sağ olasın, bence arkeolojik kazıyı sürdür ve dijital ortamda kitaplaştır. Bu konuda kiminle işbirliği yapmalısın acaba? Bu sabahın hayatımda özel bir yeri olacak, bilesin.
Cemal Ekin
Binnaz, sonunda yorumu yazmisin, eline saglik. Arkeolojik kazi yavas isleyen bir calisma. Eski negatifleri tarama cok vakit alici bir is. Ara ara belki yine el atmak istiyorum. Ozel sabahlar iyidir, sevindim!
I’m not a robot kutusuna tikladiktan sonra biraz beklemen gerek icnde yesil check-mark cikana kadar. Robotlari cok azaltti.
Cemal
Haluk Atamal
We like it, Cemal. No worries!
Best regards from Haluk.
Cemal Ekin
Haluk, thanks for your understanding. I was indeed getting too many spam comments and this little thing cut it down significantly. I hope I have also fixed the e-mail problem and the new post notifications are going as I post new articles.
Cemal
Mike Di Stefano
Howdy Cemal, I got your “film days 2 & 3” but didn’t get “1”, so i guess you have solved the blog distribution problem. BTW I love the photo of man and skinny chicken.
Mike D.
Cemal Ekin
Mike, thanks for the heads up on the post alerts. I will keep watching it and may even change it. That will require for everyone to sign up once more!
The proud man with the fighting cock is indeed a very fine photograph (now, I am flattering myself!) I have been shooting with the new Leica, T-Max 100.
Cemal