A Turkish Delight: Street Photography At My Local Market

Despite a welcome influx of foreign investment into Turkey that has resulted in a boom of shopping malls and hypermarkets, the majority of Turks prefer to do their food shopping at the local weekly pazar (market) which usually sets up overnight in a labyrinth of streets or on a plot of dusty land allocated by the council.

Back in 2009 and still acclimatizing from my UK emigration, my Wife first took me to the local market. With squeaky shopping trolley in tow, I sighed at what was obviously going to a dull and regular chore. How wrong I was! Besides the excited hustle and bustle of shoppers and the competitive yet jolly shouts of the stall holders (ultimately drowned out by the call to prayer), I quickly realised that the market holds a wealth of photographic opportunities; particularly to someone new to the country.

It wasn’t long before I was carrying my camera in one hand and dragging the ever squeaking shopping trolley in the other, returning home with a week’s supply of both food to eat and images to process. So begin my project to document my weekly encounters and experiences at the local market.

The People

I usually visit the market early in the morning; I’d like to say this is so I can catch the best light of the day, but the reality is that my Wife wants first pickings!

A benefit of a morning visit is that you can usually catch the stall holders busy making final preparations to their displays, trimming vegetables, or just taking a moment to relax and socialise before the mass of shoppers arrive.

Although I’ve also visited late in the day, I’ve found the stall holders to be tired and the stalls looking a little too empty for good photographs.

The stall holders are a friendly bunch – after all, I’m a potential customer what with my shopping trolley beside me. The benefit of regularly visiting a location is that you gain familiarity with your subjects and can establish a healthy rapport.

My preferred approach is to stand on the sidelines and photograph a scene unfolding in front of me – usually without being particularly noticed.

If I want to take a direct portrait then my approach is to smile, raise my eyebrows and tip my camera towards the person, thus seeking approval. Most people are inquisitive; when I tell them it’s my hobby they simply laugh and joke with their colleagues that they’re going to be famous on the internet!

Regardless of the approach I take, if I’m seen then I always make an effort to thank my subjects either in Turkish, English, or with a prolonged touch of palm to heart and nod of head, which is the Turkish gesture of humble gratitude.

More than once I have had a print made and returned the following week to present it. The subject is usually grateful, if not still a little bemused about why you took their photograph in the first place!

I can genuinely say I’ve never had an issue taking a photograph of the male stall holders. Sure, I’ve been declined on occasion, but I just smile, say thanks and move on. Another time perhaps.

I exercise caution when my subject is female. Typically if the lady is running the stall herself then it’s fair to say she’ll be as hospitable as any male stall holder. On occasion She will be the wife or daughter of the stall holder who is also there, working.  In these circumstances I tend to put the camera aside; whilst I doubt there would be any issues if I asked for a photograph I just get a sense of possible contention, which for me is just not worth it – the last thing I want is for anyone to feel uncomfortable.

The Produce

Fruit and vegetables in Turkey are almost completely domestic, which means what’s on sale is seasonal. This brings a welcome change to what is displayed; from the bright orange and yellow colours of the winter citrus fruits, to the green beans and red tomatoes of summer.

The stall holders take great pride in the displays they set up and are proud when I photograph their stalls. On more than one occasion I’ve been asked why I’m not photographing their stall this week – “Don’t you like my artistic stack of lemons?” or “My tomatoes are better than his!” – it’s all in good humour and we either laugh it off through my (very) broken Turkish, or I oblige with a playful apology and a quick snap.

During the quiet period of late winter, just before spring has started, the stalls can start to look tired, as we all wait for the new season’s produce to be harvested. This is when I turn to the other products that are on sale – fresh fish, bread, dry goods and housewares all provide opportunities for me to train my photographic eye.

Equipment

Since it was first released, I’ve been very happy using a Fujifilm X-Pro1 with the 35mm lens. More recently, I’ve bought the 14mm prime lens and I’m looking forward to trying the new 56mm prime.

I really enjoy the user experience of the X-Pro1; with it’s traditional style controls being close to hand for immediate adjustment I rarely miss a shot due to inappropriate exposure settings.

The light weight of the camera is also a benefit, although I practise a rule of only taking the camera and one attached lens with me – I find this approach forces me to spend the visit ‘seeing’ in the focal length of the lens and avoids the whole “Quick, must swap lenses!” problem.

The small size of both the camera and it’s prime lenses allows me to blend in reasonably well, which I think is important for street photography. Having previously used a full frame DSLR with fast zoom lenses, I believe I get a better reaction from my subjects (and therefore better results) by using a more modest looking camera.

The strong sunlight and dark shadows found in the market make for some very contrasty scenes which I find the X-Pro1’s automatic dynamic range feature handles with relative ease.

I shoot RAW and edit in Capture One Pro 9, occasionally exporting out to Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 for black and white processing when I can’t achieve the look I want using Capture One’s black and white controls.

Mark Songhurst
June 2016

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