Kid's Culture - Gun Culture Photo

Photographer’s Note

Gun Play

Taken in the Balat district of Istanbul on my perambulations with Deniz and Jerzy - I had the odd two finger gun battle in the back streets with various kids during my own wanderings but these guys were more intent on us shooting them........but just after this moment the fight that Jerzy shot began in the background with another group of kids.

Kid's Culture is so much less about guns in the UK since I grew up - and now the culture against guns is probably more pervasve than ever....on the surface.....but recently one third of British males surveyed said they knew how to get hold of one and an even higher perecentage said they knew someone who possessed one despite their illegality.

In the workshop is an image taken in an underpass just off the Galata Bridge - this store is just one of five or six like it in the same location. I was surprised - brandished in the wrong circumstances even a toy gun can get you shot by British Police these days.......some of these guns are recreational pellet guns but if I understood Deniz right you can purchase the real thing too.

So like with cigarettes, starting the kids with realistic looking weapons sells the bigger better model when they are older. It's the adult world which makes our gun culture a kid's culture..........with sweet smiles and the pretense of threat.....in my other image of this moment the kid on the ground is being throttled by the butter wouldn't melt in my mouth innocent above!

rigoletto, MarcT, bostankorkulugu, tehanu_f, bombilla, Dpbours, noborders has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

rigoletto (26326) 2007-11-17 2:50

I may be blamed for showing and telling the dark corners of our nation's recent culture, but what you say is true Kev.

This is a country where Nobel Prize winners are traitors of nation and where killers are called heros. This is a country where mafia members in the serials on TV are models for the kids, and where cultural programs are being derided with disgusting scorn and mockery.

Do i only see the empty part of the bottle? Well, this is a country where the remaining full part of that bottle is trying to be emptied by local heroes...

And this is a country where democracy is working very well for the supporters of those heroes...

[workshop] [compare]

MarcT (21099) 2007-11-17 3:13

Hi Kevin,
Great fun with this picture. Very dynamic portraits.
And yes you are right about guns!
Cheers
Marc

bombilla (3402) 2007-11-17 5:21

A couple of powerful images, Kev -- this and the workshop. Both beautiful and terrifying for their implicit but unrealized violence -- for their potential violence. In this one, the smiling kids with the very realistic gun, which may very well be replaced by a real gun at some point. In the workshop, you have this gorgeous geometry of the gun shop. Lovely to look at, in its way. Also, potentially representing rivers of blood.

These types of shots are all over the place these days, but, for me, the ones that really cut are those that are like what the other image you mention I imagine must be (the violent "throttle" shot).

Here's a photo from the New York Times that I saw back in July and that has stayed with me ever since. I thought of it immediately upon seeing your post.

Best, -Hugh

(Though, on second thought, maybe this kind of photo, with the kids smiling and innocent is more disturbing in the end.)

MKING (3050) 2007-11-17 6:00

We used to play "cops and robbers" in the playground when we were very young, but it was hardly sinister what with fingers and maybe the odd stick for a truncheon. It must be different when you can actually hold a gun, even a toy one, in your hand and it looks real. As usual Kev you've taken an excellent street portrait and made it that much more poignant by combining it with compelling social commentary.

The same title popped into my head to describe a far less sinister encounter I had last year...
http://www.trekearth.com/viewphotos.php?l=5&p=649611

bantonbuju (48630) 2007-11-17 8:10

i cant remember that gun...although i do remember that bunch of kids...
i must say that your b/w treatment fascinates me...all those photos are top quality, with natural tones, with all the details...
--------
today i went out and saw...snow and blue sky...t hought i had to take few shots to proove to kev that we sometimes have winter blue sky, too...:-)))
you may expect some "presents" soon...:-))

bw, j.

bostankorkulugu (33598) 2007-11-17 9:28

what deniz tells is true... but on the other hand, there are NGOs in this country, campaigning for civil disarmement... and also the media is not bad on this issue... there is still a lot to do though... i have a son... and i dont whant him to ask me -or deniz- to buy a toy gun for him in a few years time...

lovely shot kev, with all the smiling kids, quite a striking one, along with your note...

fotohadi (2967) 2007-11-17 14:10

Hi Kev,Süperb composition,very well B&W and tone,Well done .Hadi

tehanu_f (6874) 2007-11-17 14:15

Hi Kev,
First of all, I'd like to congratulate you for taking such a pin-sharp image of kids playing, not standing still. I hate to see kids playing with guns and taking those macho vigilantes on TV (so-called heroes who fight and kill to bring justice & peace!) as role-models. I'm strongly against personal guns, but I don't believe they will make it illegal in the near future. Anyway, it's a long subject. Back to the photo again...they really look lovely (apart from that gun of course). I also like the subtle tone of sepia.
Regards.
Fusun

Furachan (0) 2007-11-18 2:36

Lovely group shot, Kev with just the right timing somehow - even they are in a sense "clowing and posing" for your camera, there is a fresh dynamism about the picture that transcends even their intentions...
Nice work,
Francis

Dpbours (220) 2007-11-18 2:38

Hi Kev,

What a wonderful note! And the line in the workshop "Kev is firstly establishing the eye contact with female gang members, then doing the photography bussiness..." just had me falling off my chair of laughter. :-D

Wonderful note. Really. And so true. I'm wondering a bit which nobel prize winners Deniz is referring to! But yeah, I can come up with some names as well.
I'm waiting for George's note as well. Critically as always and positively opinionated about the world. Shouldn't we all be?

Greetings,
Dennis

keribar (42748) 2007-11-19 22:57

Hello Kev,

The more I look closely at your pictures and the more I cannot stop thinking about the sharpness of your camera. I am not sure that I can get such a sharpness with mine, or perhaps you are like an oak. Yet the composition is excellent, Magnum Style, I should say, I really enjoy every detail of it.
Keep going. Izzet

I had a hectic week with hospitals and operations in the family. Seems as if verything is getting in order now.

noborders (14199) 2007-12-04 1:43

You have so many great photos in your gallery, it is difficult to choose - but this one is so perfect for its framing, the disposition of the kids seems ideal even if accidental, I love to watch their expression, the fun and the potential violence : interesting and even, captivating !
WS also very "useful" and informative,
Compliments !
Cath.