old servicemen Photo

Photographer’s Note

These are old "militaries, now civil-o-militaries"(*) : 20 of them live in the small Kurdish village of Somkaya where I spent 2 nights ; they were about to board a minibus that would drive them close to the Iranian border (not far away) - very peaceful and balanced men, happy with their jobs, having regular income ("our salary is not too bad")
(NB : unlike the border with Iraq, the border with Iran was peaceful and the Ararat climbers had been released by their kidnappers !).

Some of them were late, the dolmus (minibus) had to wait for half an hour before leaving and that's how I had time to take some photos as they had such proud, smiling and interesting faces maybe too static portraits, but well... Another of these friendly old guys with the same kind of rifle here.

(*) NB : copying here what Deniz (rigoletto) just explained ("korucu" meaning "protector") :
They are "Once militaries, now old civil-o-militaries. They defend the eastern/southeastern villages against terrorist attacks. There are so many korucu in those villages".

holmertz, rigoletto, tiobibi, Atousa trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

holmertz (9869) 2008-10-11 12:51

Hello Catherine,
Somehow these chaps look a bit too civilian to be career soldiers. Are they perhaps civilian "village guards" paid by the government to fight their fellow kurds - a very dangerous job. Anyway it's an unusual picture for TE and as such very welcome. Highly interesting and a good double portrait.
Have a nice Sunday,
Gert
PS sometimes you upload so fast I can't keep up with you. Or am I just too slow?

rigoletto (26566) 2008-10-11 12:57

Hi Cath,
There are too many politics to talk about these soldiers (korucu in Turkish), but it is not the place :)
I like their charming faces and warm smiles which balance their militaristic outlook. Good B&W tonality and contrast, so little greys here.
Cheers,
Deniz

horatiuTT (4566) 2008-10-11 13:42

Hi Cath,
great one,I like this black and white,with their proud faces,
high contrast used,very effective,a nice double portrait.
Regards,
Horatiu

ymrk (8995) 2008-10-11 16:10

Merhaba Cath.

Good siluet.Güzel komposizon.İnsanlar görüntülemei gerçekten seviyorsunuz.Güzel de yapıyorsunuz.Hoşçakalın

YAĞMUR

Atousa (3456) 2008-10-11 21:35

Salam Cath,

You captured their expressions well ..they seem friendly n happy ..the details of the shot are also interesting..TFS
Best wishes, A

Stepan (27175) 2008-10-12 0:58

Je sais que tu n'es pas fan, mais c'est comme cela que j'imagine l'ambiance de "Longue marche". Le N&B est nickel et ces gaillards ont l'air de vrais hommes !!! Et le petit décentrage est top. Superbe.
Stéphane

faubry (32383) 2008-10-12 1:51

Bonsoir Cath, qu ils soient encore ens ervice ou simplement des gens paisibles, le portait est superbement bien traite et les tons de gris sont tres bons,ils sont en effet, tres fiers d etre pris en photo..
des frontieres instables encore..
bonne nuit
bises
francine

MarcT (21103) 2008-10-12 12:46

Salut Cath,
Tu as trouvé des militaires sympa... ;o))
Il n'y avait pas de chargeur sur les armes, heureusement!
Amitiés
Marc

bantonbuju (48762) 2008-10-12 23:37

borat? the one on the left must be him or at least his cousin...:-)))
they indeed look happy with their job and i think that they appreciate that the iranian border is much more peaceful than the iraqi one...
in the end of the day i like the simplicity of this image...
bw, j.

Polonaise (5638) 2008-10-13 7:06

There they are...
The peace loving people !!!

Armed with their most beloved babies...Their mistresses...Their lovers...
Their...Their...Everything...!

As long as they can hold those Kalachs in their arms - the life seems to be so bright...So sunny...

Isn't that great...? That feeling of being useful for my country...?
For, I'm here to defend my country - am I ?

Because THEY want to attack my country, and I am here to defend my country against THEM...
Oh, please... Give me that AK-47...Please...
My sweet baby...
Please...
I promise to kill as many enemies as many my government will come up with...
Better yet... I promise to kill all of them, so there will be room for another enemies that will attack my country...

O'Almighty... Please...Pretty please...
Make those enemies for us... Please...
My rifle is getting rusty... Please...!!!
You, who has the mercy and love in your heart - listen to my humble prayer and answer with all of your power...
Please, let me kill a few enemies... Please...!!!

...................

My dear...De vorld is full ov idyiots...

..................

Great stuff, Katarzyna...
Those are THE real people...

........................................

Love... Love and AK-47...

g.

...........

dvlazar (6488) 2008-10-17 4:12

Great black and white post - i love these characters and their friendly demeanour inspite their large guns.
Good work getting to meet these people.
Dave

wolf38 (13011) 2008-11-13 8:10

Hello Catherine. Two hard men. They show up in such a way, as they would like to be seen. The photo has journalistic quality. Outstanding. Exemplary informative text. Regards, Wolfgang.