2 ways of making bread in villages (I) Photo

Photographer’s Note

(NB - This is a serious, documentary photo ; the next shot will be more "esthetical", but I thought that it was interesting to show these 2 methods of preparing the bread, which are still very much in use, everyday in the villages in Turkey) :
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Near the border in east Turkey, there are often no bakery shops ("firin") in the villages, so the women have to make the bread for the family on their own... Hanim (that's the 1st name of this woman) had decided that day to fast, because it was the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet, and in the same time to bake bread for the family on a large scale, so that she would not do it again for the next 3 or 4 days. She started just after having milked the cows at 5am.

The "yufka", or large, flat bread, is baked on a metal top over the fire. Unlike in central Turkey, women rarely do this job together like on this photo.

Some elements in this room indicate that the other kind of bread can be also prepared in the same room : the sort of cushion standing against the wall, extreme left of this photo, and the underground oven, that is covered and partly hidden, between the fireplace and the low table.

NB: for the ones who see this photo separately, here is the other way of baking the bread in east Turkey.
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What is stricking IMO, is that in most house compounds in east Turkey, there is a SPECIAL ROOM, RESERVED for women to prepare the bread, showing how important and vital is that staple food for the people there. (Generally a bare, empty and isolated room without any window but with aeration from the top).
Traditionally, it is the honour and the privilege of the eldest woman of the family (the grandmother) to prepare the bread, meaning that she is also in charge of her household ; in this case, it is the daughter in law, because the grandmother Ayse suffers from various ailments - instead, Ayse is looking all day long after the young kids (I'll post a photo of her in the coming days).

Atousa, ceky, MarcT, hattori, japiey, Glint, riclopes, Mondaychild, ninaL, dokadak, cknara, thaprem, axiotea, gabrielpat, ucyuksel, hispic, Vasa has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

berek (29019) 2007-09-08 22:44

Hi Catherine,
great traditional atmosphere. very good light management and composition. well done. greetings from Istanbul
Burak

Atousa (3466) 2007-09-08 23:35

Salam Cath,
I really like the atmosphere of this shot..Its full of life as it shows her effort.I also like your light control , it leads our look to the main subject of your image.
Well seen and captured...
Best wishes,
AtousA

ceky (2304) 2007-09-08 23:37

Bonjour Catherine
Un tableau documentaire, qui mérite largement son smiley : l'eclaiage non uniforme lié au flash aide ici à mettre en valeur l'atmosphère de travail.
La note est également fort intéressante... J'ai eu l'occasion de manger de ces galettes, d'ailleurs stockées non pas pour 3 ou 4 jours, mais pour l'ensemble de l'hiver !
Georges

SteveH (3995) 2007-09-09 0:27

Hi Catherine, I would like to have seen her face more clearly and was going to suggest that a tighter crop would have been good. But then I looked at what could have been removed and found that all the elements tell a part of her story. well done. Cheers, Steve

MarcT (21103) 2007-09-09 0:32

Salut Cath,
je dosi dire que je te préfère alors sérieuse qu'artiste (LOL).
La photo n'est pas seulement artistique mais "aussi instructive".
Amitiés
Marc

Silvio1953 (42821) 2007-09-09 0:38

Ciao Caterina, splendida immagine, molto caratteristica di vita quotidiana, meravigliosa la luce, brava, buona domenica, ciao Silvio

hattori (2) 2007-09-09 0:41

sevgili catherine,
as i told you before, it's an excellent feature, unique photojournalistic series
this one is also great with perfect details
very very well done and even congratulations
cheers
nezih

bantonbuju (48796) 2007-09-09 0:51

hi cath,
i'm sure you'll get pretty lot of smileys for this one for various reasons - you masterly exposed this indoor photo, you found an interesting subject, and you dressed the photo in an exciting story with few good questions which make us think...
bw, j.

hatti52 (12654) 2007-09-09 1:08

Gunaydin Cath,
Excellent composition
great light management as usually
perfect
tebrikler)

ninaL (19590) 2007-09-09 1:24

Salut, Catherine.
C'est étonnant comment tu cadres bien l'ensemble des scènes de la vie quotidienne en plan large...
C'est un document précieux, j'aime beaucoup l'ambiance...
Amitiés, Grazyna.

japiey (9521) 2007-09-09 2:09

Hi Cath.

Fantastic journalism...
A good shot , fine in details about the subject you mentioned in notes..
Why is that doubt about "smileys" ?
Let's think different...
You show the world what they havent seen and that is more important , and sensible. I really admire this sincere effort from you. Keep the spirits high :)

Salutes, dear Cath.
A NICE DAY.

jean paul

Glint (3074) 2007-09-09 2:19

Dear catherine,
you alreday know that I admire your documentary style and choice of subjects. Your pictures are away from the usual tourist places and so extra interesting. I also like your interest in the domestic life and families of the people that you meet. Others have already admired your handling of the technical details here and I can only concurr.
well done
Bev

mesutilgim (37282) 2007-09-09 4:01

Hello dear Cath !
Great capture. Wonderfull compo. Allthough been flashed (?), very good light management and good sharpness. Great notes as well.
TFS and have a nice weekend.
MESUT ILGIM

akinsu (123) 2007-09-09 4:05

verinice fotographic

riclopes (33135) 2007-09-09 4:19

You must be kidding, Cath. This is a tremendous good photo. Compare with your previous landscape, for example - this has more smiles, so far. The timming for the action is excellent and the light is perfectly well manage. A woman worker in her natural environment, along with a great story for us. A BIG smiley for this one. I wish I could do such a good documentary work as you do.
Ricardo

Bruno40 (6442) 2007-09-09 5:18

Hi Cath
Veyr interesting photo that fulfills the motto of TE. Technically good as well.
It seems yummy, did you try it?
TFS
jorge

Mondaychild (1513) 2007-09-09 8:48

Hi Cath,

you say this photo isn´t esthetical?? IMO, it´s even VERY estehetical: the dark wall in the background and the bright (but not too bright) foreground. Also the compo is very very nice, everything is well visible, also the motion of the lady is good.
Interesting to learn about the different customs of baking bread (the women of East Anatolia use to bake "alone" while their "sisters" in the West like to have company)
So, is this baking room in EACH home or could it be used by the whole village?

sabanuluca (5170) 2007-09-09 12:09

hi,
it is a great daly life picture from the village. good light and comp.
greetings
şaban

dokadak (11492) 2007-09-09 12:36

Hi Cath,

What a nice sharing... good capture, light and colors are perfect though interior shoting... its not always easy to shot lady in anatolia and u were luckly :)

cheers
hasan

cknara (567) 2007-09-10 0:01

This photo is more than a documentary.More than showing off the making of traditional bread making in Rural turkey,aesthetically it is a nice shot.Even with a poor lighting,you have excelled in getting a nice view.

TFS
Nara

vincz (19045) 2007-09-10 0:44

Superbe image. la composition est parfaite, le timing excellent, en plein mouvement. L\eclairage sans flash est unique. Un grand bravo!

prumod (8264) 2007-09-10 7:06

hi catherine....
you made me a fan of your turkish daily life... this one feels like a classical oil painting... so beautiful is its lights and shades.... it clearly say something about their life style!
greetings...

axiotea (16287) 2007-09-10 21:17

Salut Cath
Une bonne photo reportage sur la façon de faire le pain. j'aime bien comment la femme à enfile sa main dans la pâte, prête à la mettre sur la grande pierre en forme de dôme. Tous les éléments sont bien placés et la note est très intéressante...
Amicalement
Marilyn

photographer123 (5803) 2007-09-12 9:46

hi cath..
beautiful shot for the core of the family...nothing to say..you captured well the athmosphere....very good doco shot...best wishes..subir

gabrielpat (6553) 2007-09-14 12:07

salut Catherine,
magnifique mouvement.des couleurs authentiques.superbe.

PierreMorel (1168) 2007-09-17 1:36

Bonjour Catherine,
Superbe exposition qui conseve des zones sombres dans l'image et où les points d'intérêt sont bien mis en valeur.
C'est vrailent très réussi et d'une très belle qualité documentaire.
Amicalement,
Pierre

Polonaise (5638) 2007-10-23 9:58

Great, Catherine !
The scene, the moment, the colors, the presentation...
Flawless technique...
Your heart...Your mind was there..
As close as possible...
You ARE there, in the room with her, Cathy !
How normal a normal photo can be ?

Why there is so few 'normal' photos on TE ?

----------------
NGO class !!!

ucyuksel (114) 2007-10-24 12:30

Hi cath,
First of all as a Turkish citizen I would like to thank you for your contribution on our cultural documantery. Excellent composition and wonderful exposure under difficult light conditions. The note is also very useful. Thank you

Türkçeniz de mükemmel. Tebrikler...

hispic (7399) 2007-11-05 1:17

Captured a very good moment well with natural soft light.
Your note is also so interesting. I like your East Anatolia series.
Hisashi

nirvana73 (8842) 2008-05-22 22:27

Merhaba Catherine
zor şartlarda
doğal ve güzel bir kare
paylaşım için teşekkürler
selamlarımla
Özhan

Vasa (6318) 2008-11-22 16:25

Bonsoir Catherine,

c'est la photo qui fait paire avec une tres belle que j'ai deja comentee. Je me suis promis de revenir sur place pour la decorer. D'ailleurs, je revois de temps en temps tes photos que j'ai deja fort aime. Heureusement, il y en a encore qui me font compagnie quand tu n'est pas la.

Passe un tres bon weekend, Cth,chere amie

Branko