Opium Town, a photo from Afyon, Aegean

Photographer's Note

Another photo from my journey through Turkey in 1974.

This is the spectacular rock that rises over the western Anatolian town of Afyonkarahisar. At the time of my visit the town was just known as Afyon, meaning "opium". In recent years it was officially given its present name, meaning "opium black castle".

As recently as the 1960's this was the centre of a large opium growing district. The production still remaining is strictly controlled and is only for medical purposes.

There are still remains of an old castle, or rather fortress, on top of the hill. Not much can be seen from this angle though. This strategic rock has been fortified for thousands of years, at least back to the Hittites, 3000-3500 years ago.

I remember Afyon in 1974 as a very quiet and rural town. Wikipedia describes it today as having "a country town feel to it. There is little in the way of bars, cafes, live music or other cultural amenities". So it seems not much has changed here during the last 38 years.

This was scanned from a Kodachrome sllide.

pajaran, ourania, Budapestman, tyro, mkamionka, Suppiluliuma, ayferaldanmaz, siolaw has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ACL1978 (5689) 2012-09-15 7:50

Amazing to see this small town right at the foot of the impressive rock, Gert. The colors mesh well from the cobblestone to the houses to the mountain itself. A really nice look at an older but not forgotten Turkey!

Andrew

siamesa (27449) 2012-09-15 8:48

Bom dia Gert

Spectacular! A superb photo of this impressive rock.Excellent point of view.
Abraços
maria

dkmurphys (36709) 2012-09-15 10:05

Hi Gert,
What a lovely scene. The textures are incredible and the place is quite amazing. Well taken, have a nice weekend.

Daniel

bayno (16131) 2012-09-15 11:12

Ciao Gert,
should be a very interesting, I like your POV and the scene with the market of vegetables and the mountain-shaped cake in the background, the day was a bit gray, I took the liberty of making a WS in B & W, I hope you don't mind, good sharp and depth and always a good work...kind regards,
valter

[workshop] [compare] +

kato (6725) 2012-09-15 21:53

Hello Gert,

Here seems to an interesting town with spectacular rock in behind, so it's interesting and impresive to see the huge rock in behind and the market selling many kind of vegetables on the ground. It's also impressive in the building of the roof of a red tile. Good angle and excellent tone.

Kind regards,
mikio

abmdsudi (26199) 2012-09-16 5:54

Hi Gert
It's a journey back in time again looking upon the opium town revealing the rustic era but not lacking of interests though, particularly the fortress atop the steep rock formation that looked impossible to climb and this rather quiet market scene. A classic 'old' picture and very fortunate having this and envy your discovery. the view point provides a much more visually interesting subjects around, the dresses and curious faces but the everythings are real added value emphasizng the character of this town. Excellent clarity, coloring and general contrast. Congrats, TFS.
Warm regards

Tigerlily (2339) 2012-09-16 8:55

Hello Gert,
Excellentlly captured image full of life..
Personally I prefer coloured one. The rich colour on the building and the stocks is very appealing to me.. .I don't use scanner, i don't know if the skin color could be de-saturated a little. It looks a bit red on my screen, but the vegetables, the buildings and the road look great.

[workshop] [compare] +

mohammad_H (6565) 2012-09-16 9:49

Hi
Attractive and beautiful picture of the market
Rocky mountains in the background, it has a special beauty
Very well done
Good night

Nicou (97509) 2012-09-16 10:00

Hello

quel roche et iamge superbe la belle forme de la colline de pierre et cette rue avec l'animation le marché ces maisons sueprbe compo et iamge.

Bravo et amitié

Nicou

TopGeo (37994) 2012-09-16 10:26

Hello Gert! Interesting moments from the past I think these moments, you are giving the message that life continues but this differs from past
Good memories
Best regards
Georgios

pajaran (36119) 2012-09-16 11:46

Dobro vece.
Dobar tekst o mestu, i starom gradu ...
Lep pogled na ulicu, kuce i planinu sa starim gradom.
Dobra ostrina, kontrast i perspektiva, lepe boje.
Dobar rad skeniranjem.
Prijatno vece i sve najbolje sa lepim secanjem.
Paja.

Good evening.
Good article about the place, and the old town ...
A nice view of the street, the house and the mountain to the old town.
Good sharpness, contrast and perspective, beautiful colors.
Good work by scanning.
Good evening and all the best with beautiful memories.
Paja.

ourania (12249) 2012-09-16 12:11

Hello Gert,
a great point of view that makes the solid rock part of the setting in which every day life takes place. There are many interesting elements to see in this frame (by the way, I think Jasmine did a great work illuminating the faces). We get a lot of information about the place and its inhabitants in a very natural and pleasing way; the picture stays in our minds and becomes a point of reference. I love the perspective, the earthy colours and the textures, especially the fabric covering products on the right. Well done and thank you!
All the best, have a great week,
Ourania

marabu61 (3865) 2012-09-16 13:45

Hej Gert
A pleasing scene of a long forgotten time in a turkish mountain town. It is great to see pictures of an other time to survive to the digital age. Wasn't photography a different game then?
I just wonder what scanner you are using? The quality of the scan is amazing. I never achieve a similar qualitiy with my ectachrome slides.
a good start to the new week.
Hejdå Daniel

mesutilgim (67856) 2012-09-16 13:48

Hello dear Gert,
Another nice "oldie" from my hometown.
Unfortunately those beatiful streets scenes are only historical matters.
Very good scan.
Many interesting notes.
TFS and bestr regards
MESUT ILGIM

Budapestman (82620) 2012-09-16 16:22

Hi Gert,
a superb street photo and I like the imposing rock in the background, the composition is spectacular, great atmosphere, Tfs! Have a nice week! Kellemes hetet kívánok!
György

saxo042 (31790) 2012-09-17 0:12

Hej Gert,
Intressant stadsbild och framför allt en intressant klippformation. Hur hög är den? Ved är det för bergart? Men noten ger ju några upplysningar
Hälsningar
Gunnar

tyro (13009) 2012-09-17 3:30

Hello Gert,

Another testament to the logevity of Kodachrome slide film and also to the skills of the young photographer who composed so pleasing a picture.

The rock which towers threateningly above this town is indeed spectacular and you have placed it perfectly in the frame above the nearest building with its crumbling stone walls which appear to be surmounted by a newly tiled roof. The goods and vegetables for sale at the roadside and the groups of citizens milling around add to the interest.

Considering that this is a scanned photograph, the colours are amazingly true and the details and sharpness are excellent.

And an interesting note tops off this presentaion perfectly.

Excellent!

Kind Regards,

John.

agjika (3991) 2012-09-17 3:34

Hi Gert,
Another great shot from your healthy archives! Great records shot of this quiet place. I like the sacks of potatoes on the right. They would have been an even better forgroud if they were a little bit more on the left.

Thanks for sharing

Aleks

Graal (88784) 2012-09-17 10:37

Hi Gert,
you had journey to unusual places in Turkey. Here - "Opium Town". Good and interesting informations in note. Well quality of scan. Fine document from your archive.
Have a nice evening.
Aleksander

mkamionka (24455) 2012-09-17 12:35

Hi Gert,
very interesting note, great photo as well.
I like the extraordinary rock - I have tried to spot some structure on the top but it is not easy. The village in the foreground is like another world. Great combination of these two interesting worlds here.
TFS
M

CanmoreKevin (2111) 2012-09-17 17:52

Gert,
This contains so many wonderful textures. The facades of the buildings give just enough relief from this. Very nicely cropped.
Kevin

Suppiluliuma (3841) 2012-09-17 23:03

Looking at your pictures is like going thru the Wells' time machine, or savoring one of the pictures of the famous Turkish photographers Ara Guler or Sami Güner.

The narratives give a pleasant perspective.

TFS.

Erdem

robmal (1548) 2012-09-18 1:35

Hello Gert,
amazing place with beautiful rock in the background, fantastic scan with perfect quality, very interesting note, congratulations.
Best regards Robert.

ayferaldanmaz (932) 2012-09-19 9:22

hi gert,
another great shot. wonderful historical details.. the cobblestones on the ground do not exist anymore :( but it's nice to see at least in the photos :) great memories, tfs.
best wishes,
ayfer

siolaw (37568) 2012-10-15 7:58

Hi Gert
An interesting vintage view of the village square with small market.
We can see a bit of the ruins... must be a great POV too up there!
Greetings
Laurent