squatting with 28 cats (or even more) Photo

Photographer’s Note

... Holding a few days kitten in his hands (too tiny : Hüseyn Bey had to separate him together with his mother from some of the adults and lock it inside his only one room for a few days, but still he wanted to show it to me).
=> next photo : => another area of his vast outdoor lodging

**********
HAD to post this before leaving for east Turkey tonight, where I'll have no communication with the outside world as I intend to go from one small village along the way to the other, near the Iranian, Armenian and Georgian borders for a few days (and I promise that I'll reply to all your critiques soon after that) :

I met Husseyn Bey again last month, and his population of cats had grown considerably since I had first met him ; among his 28 cats, there were 8 kittens and he is there seen holding the youngest one, just a few days old in his hand, coming out of his one-room squat, the interior of which you can see here.

Now it is really too hot to pay him a visit, but I guess that he has even more mouths to feed, without any income, only helped by the municipality when it comes to free lodging and electricity, and some local foundation sometimes helping him.

I asked why he did this, why he did not refuse new arrivals, but then he told me that he was now known in the whole Urgup town as :
"hayvanlarin, kedilerin babasi" ("the father of the cats - or of the animals [of the town]"),
... and also, - an expression that made him laugh with a tootless smile that I find rather cute, as the "delikanli ihtiyar", which means something like "the old guy who is behaving like an adolescent".

There was a 3rd nickname mentioning his half crazyness, but that one I did not note and he sort of just shyly mumbled it : ... I don't consider him crazy at all, rather, as I noted in former posts about him, a lone wolf who lives isolated in his cave, a former "kahveci" (= a person who manages those "cafes" where many Turkish men hang around all day long, drinking tea rather than coffee),
... and he probably heard so many foolish "dedikodu" (local gossip) during his long hours of work, that he now finds the company of cats more relaxing, altough he always welcomes me with the great traditional Turkish hospitality.

Another photo for my little theme : "squatting in Cappadocia"...

Bye bye for the moment, I'll be back soon, all the best to you from sizzling hot Cappadocia, that I'll leave in a few hours !

japiey, flory, feather, luiscar, thea0211, Angshu, hattori, riclopes, keribar, brevbrev14, kiwi_explorer, Mondaychild, Vasa has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

japiey (9521) 2007-08-06 8:40

Hi Cath.

Heartfelt presentation.
True humane !!
I know an old teacher of mine here in my town who has many cats in her home, even they are alloted rooms too...and every morning she goes to the market to buy them food, and each has their own tastes too...That was so lovely to see..
My salutes to you for this lovely image.
Good and sensitive.
Kudos, dear Cath.
Wish you a joyous journey.

jean paul

flory (4804) 2007-08-06 10:54

Cath,Cath,enjoyable image and in the same way the note,everywhere you look only rrrrrr;)..agglomeration there,ha?/understand him,because love all the animals,i'm sure he is happy,isolated there with him friends.hm
thanks!and nice trip!
flory

berek (29041) 2007-08-07 1:38

Hi Catherine ,
beautiful and meaningful picture from in life. I like lovely cats and your composition. greetings.
B.Erek

feather (50168) 2007-08-07 15:17

A very interesting image and very unusual to our western eyes to have this lifestyle. Perfect TE image
Kath

luiscar (3282) 2007-08-10 5:02

Hello Catherine
I have begun your gallery of coincidence, say to you that I like enough.
This composition is really expressive and dynamic simultaneously, the man in full action surrounded with cats and this set adds to the image a special dramatism.
good work
Been delighted of visiting, happy day

thea0211 (1355) 2007-08-12 10:09

charming capture, catherine - a real TE shot - with a lovely story to top it up (... but in stories everybody knows you are a true master :)!
... 28 kittens and still arriving, now that is something - i don't think he is crazy either, maybe more people should be at least a bit as 'crazy' as he is, then he wouldn't have to handle all these animals by himself.
congrats for this heartfelt capture and for the interest and compassion you are showing towards the world we are all living in - unfortunately and sadly some of us only for ourselves ... that's why people who really care are sometimes called 'crazy' just for being less selfish!
thanks and have a safe and enjoyable trip,
dora

mesutilgim (37324) 2007-08-14 4:41

Hello dear Cath,
Great shot; but even greater notes (enjoyed them very much) ! Wonderfull TE job done. At least no sunset, no calm seas, but a typical daily life shot from a nontypical surrounding.
Great !!!!
TFS and selamlar !
MESUT ILGIM

hattori (2) 2007-08-14 14:22

dear catherine,
it's a lovely shot, very well composed by thousands of cats
one of the messy shots which i liked
well done
sevgiler
nezih

Angshu (34141) 2007-08-15 0:44

What a lovely one Cath...sorry I missed it earlier. The difference in approach is all clear. Lovely daily life scene, so unusual, nice small details, a great note & of course the main subjects...the cats.
Best Regards
Angshu
PS : How was your trip?

riclopes (33135) 2007-08-15 3:09

Olá Cath, I miss these wonderful unique notes of yours. What a pleasant post and what a lovely image, full of cats, the domestic animal I most adore. In fact, I have one in my lap, while writing this note. If I move a little, she purrs and that sound is like an addiction ;-) I noticed in turkey that they love cats and that was another reason why I loved visiting it. Unique daily life shot (unique series!) with many details to observe in this way of living.
Ricardo
p.s.- I hope that the "unending storm" finally ended...Good continuation of your adventure in the middle of nowhere.

AiresSantos (42964) 2007-08-15 3:13

Hi Catherine,
Great capture, nice daily life picture with this man and the cats. I also like your note.
Amazing details !
TFS and greetings
Aires

cuneyt-sb (6559) 2007-08-15 21:37

Hi Catherine
Very enteresting shot, ofcourse his life must be enteresting too.Good to see that man lives with many cats.
TFS/Kind regards

keribar (42760) 2007-08-15 21:47

Bonjour Catherine,
Des chats il y'en a beaucoup en Turquie, mais tant de chats dans une maison ( Si on peut l'appeler ainsi ) c'est déjà plus rare. j'aime beaucoup le mouvement du gars qui se baisse en sortant et l'ambience de cette petite cour.
Bonne continuation: Allez donc voir l'église D'OSKVANK ou le lac Tortum, vous ne le regretterez pas.
Bonne salutations - Izzet

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2007-08-17 3:18

Hi Catherine,
I like your 'down to earth' scenes ... may not always pretty but it is the real world we live in. You have a flare for photo journalism. Sometimes it is amazing how some of use can easily connect to animals than to other people. Possibly it is because animals don't pre judge us ... they are trusting and take us for what we are. You've captured this scene well. Write up is very good too. Excellent work! tfs
Cheers,
Renier

brevbrev14 (372) 2007-08-17 4:59

Hi Cath, i like the moment you have captured, the natural scene here...
very good note too!
bravo!
ciao!
Valeria

Mondaychild (1513) 2007-08-24 5:37

Hi Cath,

so many cats ... I have noticed a slight "pro-cat" movement in Turkey these days (so I think your photo is good to illustrate this ... besides the fact that the cats are cute, and the man is real "original"!)

While two years ago, the boss of the beach hotel (guests are mainly Turks) scared away two straying cats from the hotel garden; the cleaning staff of the hotel is now feeding and petting a young black cat (I think the boss is still not amused ... but as the guests now seem to like cats ...)

Concerning the photo itself: It´s a pity the cat in the foreground is cut off (but I know how fast cats could be if you want to take a photo of them!!); I would have cropped off the door in the left, too - but that´s personal taste.

BTW: How old is this man? He doesn´t look that old ...

Oh yes ... I HAD to add it to my theme ... hope you don´t mind!

Vasa (6373) 2008-04-07 13:52

Chere Catherine,
j'ai mis quelques temps a lire ta note litteraire et je sors avec une belle experience sur la vie passionante du Husseyn Bay et ses trois mille chats. La photo, elle seule dit beaucoup. Le sujet me touche. Bon moment de te rappeller la photo dans mon Intro. Le petit chat de deux-trois semaines etait trouve quelque part abadonne et impuissant. Il n'a pas survecu chez nous. On l'a enterre avec des fleurs et nos larmes.

Grand merci.

Branko