Combmakers, a photo from Istanbul, Marmara

Photographer's Note

Go ahead with the "oldie" s!

This is another shot from my archive : Combmakers.
This small shop was situated very close to the so called "Egyptian Basaar" famous since than with its specialised shops for all kind of spices.
Just behind the basaar to the right and the left of the narrow streets there you could notice small workshops, where people produced different items using wood; small toys, wooden spoons, walking sticks etc etc. Those two men were making wooden (dubble sided) combs. Their material was empty wooden boxes (which they got from the retail shops in the Egyptian Basaar free of charge). Out of this wooden boxes they created wooden combs, using different handtools. When I made this shot I talked them and asked what the procedure was. Without going away from that what they were making there , they said; there are 26 different steps untill a comb was finalised ! The last step was to polish them with a small piece of broken glass !Afterwards 12 combs (a dozen) was been bound together and 12 packs of each 12 combs, again wrapped in a paper (old news papers of course !) to be sold to the reatailer. I remember 12 pieces of those combs (in dimensions of approximately 8 x 12 cm) was been sold to 4 turkish lira's which was then about 1.3 US Dollars !
Those beautiful wooden combs are now been replaced by plastic combs ! Neither the combs, nor those workshops exist any more !

Nostaljik karelere devam !

Arşivimden bir başka yarım asırlık kare daha : Tarak imalatı.
Bu küçük tarakçı atölyesi Mısır Çarşısı’nın hemen arkasındaki daracık sokaklardan birinde yer alıyordu.
İki kişinin zor sığacağı bu dükkanda, bu iki usta, Mısır Çarşısındaki baharatçılardan bedava aldıkları boş tahta kutuları kesip biçip, çift taraflı tarak haline getiriryorlar.
Ustayla konuşup not almışım; bir tarak meydana çıkana değin 26 ayrı işlemden geçiyormuş. En sonunda da kırık bir cam parçası ile tarağı parlatıyorlar.
Daha sonra bir düzine tarak gazete kağıdına sarılıp, perakendecilere satılıyor. 12 tarak için o tarihlerde aldıkları para 4 lira. O günkü kurla 1.3 Dolar !
Ne bu taraklar ne de bu tarakçılar kaldı, yerlerinde yeller esiyor ! Onların yerinde şimdilerde ucuz Çin malı oyuncaklar satılıyor.

papagolf21, golus, jester5, gildasjan, umutlu101, Kofman, lakshmip1949, patdeph, Schnappilic, Sonata11, agulberk, jlbrthnn, Budapestman, Graal has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

golus (2889) 2012-02-19 0:48

Günaydın Mesut Bey,

Geçmişten geleceğe ışık tutan harika bir kare daha. Notlarınızı çok büyük ilgiyle okudum, sosyolojik araştırmalara konu olacak denli detaylı ve bilgilendirici. Çok teşekkürler. Selam ve saygılar.

Süleyman

papagolf21 (76569) 2012-02-19 1:01

Bonjour, cher Mesut,
Décidément, j'apprécie grandement ces images réalisées, il y a maintenant 46 ans !
Vous avez su saisir avec talent le savoir-faire des artisans.
Très bonne prise de vue.
Amitiés.
Philippe

lousat (57674) 2012-02-19 1:03

Hi Mesut,it's a very very old pic but i seen the same last year in Morocco,where the time stands still.Very very nice black and white and very interesting pic,great quality and excellent work of digitalisation too,i like it!Have a nice Sunday and thanks,Luciano.

Fis2 (73114) 2012-02-19 1:47

Witaj Mesut!
A very curious place.
Interesting work.
Good frame and composition.
Curious foto from your archive.
Nice synda
Krzysztof

gildasjan (38220) 2012-02-19 2:11

Bonjour Une Mesut
Une image déjà ancienne qui a bien évidemment toute sa place sur TE.Un carré B&W bien composé.
Bonne journée
Amicalement
gildas

lakshmip1949 (19110) 2012-02-19 8:04

Hello Mesut,

I really appreciate posting these images of these hard working people without whom we cannot have the necessities in our lives. It is very interesting to see the work they are doing for their living and for our comfort.

Lakshmi

Yiannis84 (2824) 2012-02-19 9:01

Hi Mesut..

You have capture nice the action of the artist even the blur of his hand! this image has a good range of tonal contrast and excellent clarity..well taken

Best regards..Yiannis

Derya (915) 2012-02-19 9:07

Merhaba Mesut Bey ,
Mükemmel bir arşiviniz var, Notunuzla tam belgesellik bir fotoğrafa bakıyorum ...Yok olan mesleklerimize üzülüyorum..
paylaşım için teşekkürler
Saygı ve sevgilerimle
Derya

patdeph (35738) 2012-02-19 11:08

hello Mesut
this is really interesting to see this old work, just a pity that there is a small surexposition in the boxes.But this is a good scan, and the note is as interesting than the picture.
regards
Pascale

dkmurphys (36819) 2012-02-19 12:25

Hi Mesut,
Another fine old capture. Love the true working atmosphere with no machines just pure talent and effort.
Have a good night.

Daniel

Schnappilic (7929) 2012-02-19 12:42

Hello Mesut,

Great B/W series! All these old photos are impressive.
Congratulation for your work!

Best regards!

Ovidiu

Sonata11 (28341) 2012-02-19 12:59

Hello Mest,
a verny nice archive picture still good condition of this photo. Interesting and curious work. Thenks for sharing your old achive interesting picture in B&W colors. Like it to coming back to the past time.
All the best and have nice afternoon,
Barbara

agulberk (3792) 2012-02-19 13:14

Merhabalar Mesut Abi
Geçmişten geleceğe ışık tutan belgesel niteliğinde fotoğraflarınız çocuklu yıllarımızdan bu yana bir film şeridi gibi çabuk unutulan geçmişi bir an olsun derhatır ettirdi. Korkunç bir hızla değişen dünyamızda ve özellikle ülkemizde değişime ayak uyduramayanların yerinde sizin deyiminizle "yeller' esecek.
Eski fotoğraflarınızın arkasının gelmesi dileklerimle.
Tebrikler
Selam ,saygı ve sevgiler...
Adnan

TRB (12323) 2012-02-19 13:35

merhaba Hocam,
Hem görüntüsü hem açıklayıcı notunuzla belgesel tadında, mükemmel bir kare.Arşivinize hayran kalmamak mümkün değil, emeğinize sağlık.

selam ve sevgiler

Tülay

jlbrthnn (79773) 2012-02-19 15:57

Hello Mesut,
The old trades may one day be forgotten, if we do not photograph for capture. The black and white is remarkably captured. The atmosphere is authentic. The quality is very good. Bravo.
Good night.
Cordially
Joël

Budapestman (82620) 2012-02-19 17:02

Hi Dear Mesut,
a superb daily life photo with graphic details and very nice composition, an another beautiful photo from the past, Tfs! Have a nice week! Kellemes hetet kívánok!
György

Graal (88908) 2012-02-20 0:34

Hello Mesut,
another interesting scene and photo from Your old series. Fine reportage about the work in 1966. Fine scan.
Have a nice day.
Aleksander

eldancer1 (17064) 2012-02-20 8:58

You have very good photos in B&W and the format is very appropriate for the subjets and the dates they were taken. They have pov and dof with good contrast. Very well done, tfs.

batalay (32860) 2012-02-21 16:09

Merhaba sevgili Mesut,

I have been derelict in falling behind my TE photos. You have submitted so many excellent B&W images, harking back to 45 years and more. With an informative note, you lead us all through memory lane. So in 1966 in Misir Çarsisi the artisans were still making combs by hand, and earning a few kurus per hour. This is a wonderful shot, pedagogically and aesthetically first rate.

Sevgiler, Mesut.

Bülent

guld (1042) 2012-02-23 6:51 [Comment]

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speedymanu (3148) 2012-11-24 8:29

Hello Mesut,

Your archive abunds with little treasures which are both artistic and almost ethnographic. This picture is no exception and it tight framing, very present foreground brings out the intimate touch of this workshop.

Thanks a lot for sharing this series.

Emmanuel