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spyed β Turkish Yogurt
Published: 2009-05-30 20:59:41 +0000 UTC; Views: 7135; Favourites: 101; Downloads: 79
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I enjoyed this old man, he had such a kindness about him. And the man above him was making sure he could get his yogurt container open, it was hard to open and his hands shook a bit.This moment was snapped on our first day in Istanbul, and in our first outing to get some food at about the middle of the day. It made me realize where I was.....and that is very near "home." (I'm half Greek) - my family is only 5 hours by car from here.
I love the passion, and the humanity of the people in this part of the world. If you want to photograph street, and many of you can do so far better than I can... there are probably few places where truly insightful human condition moments occur as frequently as they do here in Turkey, Greece, Italy, etc. that individually contain so much meaning and depth. People express themselves here in ways cultural barriers don't allow elsewhere. And it's so beautiful.
But Istanbul in particular, I have found magic here in the few days I have spent. I have fallen for this place, and I look forward to coming back when I have more time.
Interestingly there is a long and negative history between Greeks and Turks, but the cultures are so similar it is silly that barriers exist at all. As they only exist in minds, and minds can be altered. I hope this happens faster. There is so much to gain.
Anyway while this photograph has that sweetness, it also has this fantastic waiter who didn't know I was taking a photo, and he is just priceless. The juxtaposition of the two (the sweet exchange, and this waiter being bored out of his mind and in a full spirited posture of 'bleh'
makes this a photo I really like.Of course, I butchered it technically. Let me submit and edit some more to see what the photo settings were because there's too much grain here....... OK after looking at it I don't think my settings were too bad, basically in this instance I could have used a camera with a faster sensor. Sigh. Anything else you think I could have done to make this a bit better? Higher ISO more detail? I don't know...
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Comments: 37
The title made me 
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Hi, it is a long story how I found this photo, but I fell in love both with photoghraph and your comment.
I live in Turkey, and lived a long time in Istanbul where I too adore.
Note: Negative histories between nations are creations of bureaucratic characters and politics.
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Hi,
My name is Saira and I'm a student at Simmons College. I'm currently taking an introduction to photography course, and each week we are required to write a few words about images related to what we are studying. This week, the theme is juxtaposition. I was wondering if I could write about your photo for my class? I will include your full name and the date it was taken. Thanks!
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This is a really sweet picture. I wish i knew how to describe things better, but it feels warm and fuzzy and almost tears in my eyes. Your Artist's Comments did a better job of describing it. I guess this is a waste of comment space... but thanks for making my day (my parents wouldnt let me go to the dA world tour in NY :c) a little better.
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I'm going to have to hand it to you. I really love this piece! It shows the simplicities of life, and how much meaning there really is behind things. You can't tell someone's life by a simple photo. I loved how you depicted that the old man was shaking and may have needed assistance opening his yogurt cup for breakfast. The writing below was truly a work of art in itself. This really inspired both me and my friend to do some B&W photo shoots of everyday life. Definitely worth a favorite!
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Yes, I can see what you mean. It indeed seems like too real to be real.
Very good composition.
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Lovely capture- looks great in black and white with the contrast, and such a nice little scene as well
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one spy, one love... one... lol. too much "data"
go nano-pixie. 1, 2, 3, 4! Β‘micro+pixies!
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we call it Ayran. sounds like iron but irun.
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ahhhh...Greeks and Turks...A long and sad story between two nations
I am all Greek and many of my dA friends are Turks. I can only say the best for them!
Your picture is a nice street shot, I would have only lighten its dark areas a bit, especially the waiter's face.
Greetings from dA's only Street Photography Club and from me personally!
I hope to see you in Athens soon!
=StamatisGR
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Very nice shot!
To improve it, maybe a few tweaks here and there, and if you wanna get rid of the noise I highly suggest the editing software Topaz Adjust . But really it's a great moment you've captured, don't try to go for much more with processing, because sometimes your shot is all that it should be
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I think it's a beautiful shot
you're becoming a better photographer day by day
and this is great,I can see the passion in this
and then the words to describe the photo
are really from a person,you,that has deep
thoughts and a wonderful heart
thank you very much for sharing this
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Anything else you think I could have done to make this a bit better?
And I say - leave it. It's good as it is. There are four people on this shot, and with each one a story within this shot (even the lady behind the waiter!). It's uncommon to say so much with a photo not saying anything at all. I really like this one, because as $liquisoft stated: Your photo here is reality...a moment in time that you saw and gave to us. -- and I wholeheartly agree.
Technical aspects? Thirds, golden spiral, grain, histogram... Leave it - it's not important, because this shot is very strong on it's own. I love the pose of the clerk in the background - how he looks somewhere, perhaps waiting for another client, or so. These two guys in front - there's life going on here! It's almost tangible, like a strong memory. And that lady in back, so fugitive - yet thanks to her presence you know for sure this shot isn't set-up.
In fact it's one of best photos I have seen in a while - and a real 
PS: I looked again - this time at the original file, and one more thing to tell you: Keep your hands off the grain! - it's prefect! Almost like Tri-X. Leave it there, ok? Thanks.
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Now isn't that just the perfect metaphor.
Something so sweet happens, but he's too caught up in his own self/ worries to take a moment to observe it.
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yes history can be made and changed.. this pictures shows us of life around the world .
So by showing us this picture we may change a bit .. A bit is better than nothing.. 
no you did not butcher it .. you showed us life .. !!!
Thank you for this picture..
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"Interestingly there is a long and negative history between Greeks and Turks, but the cultures are so similar it is silly that barriers exist at all. As they only exist in minds, and minds can be altered. I hope this happens faster. There is so much to gain."
I agree WHOLE heartedly with this statement and hope the same for armeno-turkish relations. These cultures are so similiar that half of the words my armenian grandmother uses for food ARE turkish.
and nice pic. 
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dont forget that turks, greeks, armenians lived together for hundreds of years in anatolia. its hard to understand that why they are having problems. (ok maybe not hard
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That is a wonderful shot, and it must be a nice feeling to know you captured that moment.
You say you don't think you did that well on the shut, and actually butchered it, but I have to disagree. The contrast is just right, and the noise in the photo actually adds to it. 
Referring to the opposing sides of the Greeks and Turks, I have to agree with you. It is rather silly, after all what's happened was years ago. BC years ago.
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hey spyed
it was really nice to get to know you and Heidi in person
and about the Turkish and Greek problems, they only exists between the politicians
i have been to Greece a couple times and had greek friends here in Turkey too so no turkish or greek people show any negative feelings one to another when in actual contact
the long and close history as you have mentioned still exists between the citizens
but those darn politicians....
they ought to just eat sh*t, crawl and die
cheers mate
you should definetely come and visit here again, but next time give us a heads up before you do so
so we can organize and make you enjoy your stay even more.
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this photo could have been taken in places of this world without knowing where exactly took the shot place in first hand. You captured this so well because there is live in your shots and I love this b/w images very much.
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I'm glad you've enjoyed your time and had a good impression about Turkey.
Unfortunately we don't see much of these manners here in Dubai since the only ones who practice it and do such things -as far as i know- are the locals which are the minority in the country
Looking forward to see more of your experiences and shots
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Good capture of the moment - glad you enjoyed the town.
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There's a very strange similarity in this photo to American culture.
Had nobody told me this image took place in Turkey, I'd think this scenario had transpired down the street in LA.
It sort of brings to light how similar we all are. Cultures have traditions which range across the board, but overall we are all the same people who like many of the same basic things. This guy in particular seems to have something to say about his yogurt, and the helpful employee is trying to humor him like any good employee should.
While I know you demean yourself when it comes to photography (saying you butchered it, etc) I think you actually hit the nail on the head when it comes to capturing life. Photography is an interesting art form in that it has the capability to capture life as it happens but also be visually stunning. A large number of photographers prefer to lean towards stunning imagery, and that's great, but to me the capturing of true life is so much more interesting. This is why I think photos taken by amateur photographers are so much more brilliant than professional photographers: they capture a moment in time and don't necessarily spend effort on trying to compose the shot perfectly. They just point and shoot, and record a scenario that is, for all intents and purposes, the exact thing I'd be seeing had I been standing in their shoes and looking through their eyes.
For me, that's so much more valuable than capturing a beautiful model in a beautiful composition. Those models and those compositions are not reality. Your photo here is reality...a moment in time that you saw and gave to us. That's so much more special, IMO.
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i totally agree about "catching the moment" idea! i like sponteneous shots more than photos with great colours, edits or all that jazz.
and about cultures, i've been to some cities of Europe before and also since i joined DA i've met many people from many different countries, again, been able to see that "we're all the same, no matter where we live or what colour our skins are". i freaking love to have a chat, to laugh or just to be with people from foreign countries. cuz we're all the same.
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I'm glad you like the photo.
I love this genre of art work, and I hope to become really good at it some day. Chris Weeks calls it "Human Condition" - and I think we should rename our category from Street to Human Condition because that's really more what it is. Street makes some people feel it's a photograph of a street.
My outing with Chris prior to the trip really gave me a bad case of the photography bug, and this tour has given me lots of time to play as I promised myself I would. I've taken so many photographs so far... maybe 5000. And I'm putting in the time in photoshop...
are you familiar with the Street gallery? Check it out man, there's amazing stuff in there along these lines but better... [link]
Have a great weekend!
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hahahaha
Turkish YoΔurt So delicious
You taste ?
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the cultures are so similar it is silly that these barriers exist at all. As they only exist in minds and not in reality.
// You are absolutely right. And thank you for comin' to Istanbul..
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