Portraits of the Kurdish Villagers..and the PKK.
I think today is Tuesday...Finally got to the Internet cafe early enough to get a number of images up loaded. Thank God I stumbled across this one, since it has Photoshop and I can at least get the images sized and turned right side up!
The following shots are from the negatives of the 4x5 Polaroid’s, considering the villagers ran off with the print as soon as they saw it! These are the decedents of the original Kurdish people that came to Van centuries ago, and continue to live in the same nomadic ways as their ancestors. It is possible that they are mixed with the Armenians that also resided here after 612 BC.
We spent the afternoon walking around the lake talking with some of the villagers about the lake, what the seasons are like for them, how long they have been there. They are obviously a very strong and resilient people, just look at the faces. They were very nice and accepting of me, again I think they were more interested in me than I was in them. I did learn a very important journalism lesson...DO NOT LET THE SUBJECTS KNOW THAT YOU ARE SHOOTING DIGITALLY AND THEY CAN LOOK AT THEMSELVES! This was a BIG mistake on my part. In less than 30 seconds the children noticed that I was looking at the back of the camera now and again..one spotted the image and I showed it to her...then all hell broke loose. Every child in the village came over to be photographed saying -shoot me shoot me shoot me- in Kurdish. I photographed every child at least three times. We left to let things calm down and had tea on the other side of the lake with a village elder. The sun was starting to set; I politely told him that I had work to do still. We gave him our food and headed back into the nomadic tent camp. All the kids came back around with the village leaders. Tahir had helped explain that I wished to make portraits of him and his family as well as the other villagers. With a very loud smile he agreed and had me come into his tent for yet MORE tea. I handed my 35mm to Tahir and started to set up the 4x5, and that all familiar silence fell over everyone. I talked through Tahir to explain what I was doing and how it all worked and what I needed...like a tripod! Well, I got a 5 gallon metal oilcan and a chair...good enough! I made one shot of the leader in the tent...and pandemonium broke out again. He ran out with the image, everyone saw it, and then tent became flooded with village kids and people. I had to go out side to get the better setting sun light. I wish Tahir could have photographed what I was doing because it was hysterical. There were 25 people gathered around the back of me waiting to be photographed. I would hand pick the ones I felt were best, since I had limited film. Thank God for Tahir, because he not only was trying to do crowd control, but he also was able to get the only elder woman in the village to sit for me..and he told me to do it fast. Fast...with a 4x5....no tripod...no loupe to focus....yeah..okay. Well, it all worked out. I made 9 great portraits, only had the camera knocked over once and my back twice.
These images are from our leisure day at Lake Van. Great warmish inland sea, and very easy to float in! It was great to get out of town again for a while, fresh air and WATER! My body really needed that after two days of literal mountain climbing and feeling like I have been working everyday since leaving Mass.
These are from a barbque we had at Tıeres home just in the Barrio type area of Van. His kids are great and his wife is very sweet. We had a great feast of Kurdish meatballs and -Hot Salad- which is just like Green Chili stew! We had a lot of fun and even better conversations.
I learned even more interesting things about the Kurds...especially the ones I happened to be in the company of. The older man that has been driving us around and teaching me about the history of Van, Muktar, was a gorilla for the PKK. Tahir, my guide and friend has two brothers currently in the PKK with one of them imprisoned as an organizer. It’s all very parallel with the events that have occurred in America centuries ago..and continue today in Israel and the Middle East, with possibly one exception. They do not wish to have back what was theirs centuries ago like most of the warring Muslim and non-Muslim nations throughout the Middle East and even Europe...they want equality with the nations they have been forced to live with. Sound familiar? They cant -go back to Kurdistan- it no longer exists. They know they can’t just make 5 nations give up land to remake Kurdistan. They just want representation for their people in the nations they do reside in. Unfortunately for them they had chosen a route of violence and guerrilla warfare; a tactic the world does not respond well to.
Today they are going to teach me more about the history of the Kurds and what they are doing now. I think we are going to plan a trip to Hakkarı, and possibly Iran to see a more established town of Kurds where I can make a more complete story..maybe make a few more portraits before leaving in a week. Everyday things get more and more interesting, and everyday the world gets smaller and smaller.
More soon
The following shots are from the negatives of the 4x5 Polaroid’s, considering the villagers ran off with the print as soon as they saw it! These are the decedents of the original Kurdish people that came to Van centuries ago, and continue to live in the same nomadic ways as their ancestors. It is possible that they are mixed with the Armenians that also resided here after 612 BC.
We spent the afternoon walking around the lake talking with some of the villagers about the lake, what the seasons are like for them, how long they have been there. They are obviously a very strong and resilient people, just look at the faces. They were very nice and accepting of me, again I think they were more interested in me than I was in them. I did learn a very important journalism lesson...DO NOT LET THE SUBJECTS KNOW THAT YOU ARE SHOOTING DIGITALLY AND THEY CAN LOOK AT THEMSELVES! This was a BIG mistake on my part. In less than 30 seconds the children noticed that I was looking at the back of the camera now and again..one spotted the image and I showed it to her...then all hell broke loose. Every child in the village came over to be photographed saying -shoot me shoot me shoot me- in Kurdish. I photographed every child at least three times. We left to let things calm down and had tea on the other side of the lake with a village elder. The sun was starting to set; I politely told him that I had work to do still. We gave him our food and headed back into the nomadic tent camp. All the kids came back around with the village leaders. Tahir had helped explain that I wished to make portraits of him and his family as well as the other villagers. With a very loud smile he agreed and had me come into his tent for yet MORE tea. I handed my 35mm to Tahir and started to set up the 4x5, and that all familiar silence fell over everyone. I talked through Tahir to explain what I was doing and how it all worked and what I needed...like a tripod! Well, I got a 5 gallon metal oilcan and a chair...good enough! I made one shot of the leader in the tent...and pandemonium broke out again. He ran out with the image, everyone saw it, and then tent became flooded with village kids and people. I had to go out side to get the better setting sun light. I wish Tahir could have photographed what I was doing because it was hysterical. There were 25 people gathered around the back of me waiting to be photographed. I would hand pick the ones I felt were best, since I had limited film. Thank God for Tahir, because he not only was trying to do crowd control, but he also was able to get the only elder woman in the village to sit for me..and he told me to do it fast. Fast...with a 4x5....no tripod...no loupe to focus....yeah..okay. Well, it all worked out. I made 9 great portraits, only had the camera knocked over once and my back twice.
These images are from our leisure day at Lake Van. Great warmish inland sea, and very easy to float in! It was great to get out of town again for a while, fresh air and WATER! My body really needed that after two days of literal mountain climbing and feeling like I have been working everyday since leaving Mass.
These are from a barbque we had at Tıeres home just in the Barrio type area of Van. His kids are great and his wife is very sweet. We had a great feast of Kurdish meatballs and -Hot Salad- which is just like Green Chili stew! We had a lot of fun and even better conversations.
I learned even more interesting things about the Kurds...especially the ones I happened to be in the company of. The older man that has been driving us around and teaching me about the history of Van, Muktar, was a gorilla for the PKK. Tahir, my guide and friend has two brothers currently in the PKK with one of them imprisoned as an organizer. It’s all very parallel with the events that have occurred in America centuries ago..and continue today in Israel and the Middle East, with possibly one exception. They do not wish to have back what was theirs centuries ago like most of the warring Muslim and non-Muslim nations throughout the Middle East and even Europe...they want equality with the nations they have been forced to live with. Sound familiar? They cant -go back to Kurdistan- it no longer exists. They know they can’t just make 5 nations give up land to remake Kurdistan. They just want representation for their people in the nations they do reside in. Unfortunately for them they had chosen a route of violence and guerrilla warfare; a tactic the world does not respond well to.
Today they are going to teach me more about the history of the Kurds and what they are doing now. I think we are going to plan a trip to Hakkarı, and possibly Iran to see a more established town of Kurds where I can make a more complete story..maybe make a few more portraits before leaving in a week. Everyday things get more and more interesting, and everyday the world gets smaller and smaller.
More soon
posted by Alan M Thornton at 4:25 AM
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