Love them, hate them, you cannot help but see them!
If you ask me, I do not like seeing them everywhere in Istanbul. The photos that including them are kind of not my liking. Maybe the ugly shots that cast a shadow in Istanbul's beauty, however it is the fact of Istanbul life:
Of late, they are on the roads. Like any city in the world, main road flower-shops in down town can be little expensive. We know, things are cheaper if they sell. Shot the gypsies (above) on the Bağdat Avenue when I went for shopping this past weekend. Means red in greek language, kokkino is very popular New Year flower now, that they are hurrying up to sell them.
Not selling only flowers, they can also pick old furniture and old iron stuff. They tell your fortune reading up your coffee cup. They sell lottery tickets. They are interesting musicians who sing and play their accordion in the streets, so they are always hopeful to collect some money if people throw them a few cents from their balcony.
Since I started the writing work on this community I became aware of one fact, important. Bloggers are chasing the "beautiful things" and sharing the only "best photos" of their town/city. Why is it so?
For example, is Rome a beautiful city? Have been to many times there. Of course Rome is not a beautiful city! Rome is not about fountains, squares, cuisine but also life and public fact sheet! Who shows us those sad Rome/Italy photos in a blog? Nobody. I do not want to talk about the southern Italy, Calabria region. How I was very disappointed when comparing north and southern parts of the same country. What about Paris, Wa DC, NYC, Tokyo, London? I saw the not so good parts of those world cities. Marrakesh in Morocco? I saw really poor and horrible photos of Morocco that made me said "oh my God!". If you read a Marrakesh photoblog, she tells it as a heaven on Earth. Who believes?
Another example. What about Turin in Italy? When I read a Turin daily photo blog that is being managed by Pietro, his blog here, there is no any bad photo of Turin life. All the photos are to say to the visitor as if Turin is a wonderland.
My one wish for bloggers is to be honest and, if not that, to be transparent. Share all the beauty and ugliness of your living zone. Because the world is not a fantasyland. Blogosphere should not turn to be a fantasyland under your pen.
If you ask me, I do not like seeing them everywhere in Istanbul. The photos that including them are kind of not my liking. Maybe the ugly shots that cast a shadow in Istanbul's beauty, however it is the fact of Istanbul life:
Of late, they are on the roads. Like any city in the world, main road flower-shops in down town can be little expensive. We know, things are cheaper if they sell. Shot the gypsies (above) on the Bağdat Avenue when I went for shopping this past weekend. Means red in greek language, kokkino is very popular New Year flower now, that they are hurrying up to sell them.
Not selling only flowers, they can also pick old furniture and old iron stuff. They tell your fortune reading up your coffee cup. They sell lottery tickets. They are interesting musicians who sing and play their accordion in the streets, so they are always hopeful to collect some money if people throw them a few cents from their balcony.
I would like to ask, if we should believe in bloggers?
Since I started the writing work on this community I became aware of one fact, important. Bloggers are chasing the "beautiful things" and sharing the only "best photos" of their town/city. Why is it so?
For example, is Rome a beautiful city? Have been to many times there. Of course Rome is not a beautiful city! Rome is not about fountains, squares, cuisine but also life and public fact sheet! Who shows us those sad Rome/Italy photos in a blog? Nobody. I do not want to talk about the southern Italy, Calabria region. How I was very disappointed when comparing north and southern parts of the same country. What about Paris, Wa DC, NYC, Tokyo, London? I saw the not so good parts of those world cities. Marrakesh in Morocco? I saw really poor and horrible photos of Morocco that made me said "oh my God!". If you read a Marrakesh photoblog, she tells it as a heaven on Earth. Who believes?
Another example. What about Turin in Italy? When I read a Turin daily photo blog that is being managed by Pietro, his blog here, there is no any bad photo of Turin life. All the photos are to say to the visitor as if Turin is a wonderland.
My one wish for bloggers is to be honest and, if not that, to be transparent. Share all the beauty and ugliness of your living zone. Because the world is not a fantasyland. Blogosphere should not turn to be a fantasyland under your pen.
Very thoughtful post, Nihal. Only this past week, I was sharing with a friend that there has been "family drama" going on "behind the scenes" of my blog. I do not write about it because I do not want to air my family matters and I want my blog to be an enjoyable place to visit. However, this means that in a way, my blog is not "real". I mean, I am not sewing or quilting all the time. I am sometimes cleaning the bathroom stool or cleaning up after the dog but who would want to read about that? I do write about some things like the flooding in our aread and other weather things but I don't show photos of some of the uglier day-to-day things. I do, though, show my family and places around my town....the normal things I see every day. I suspect we all know that behind the beauty there is also a day when the sun doesn't shine or the wind blows or it's too hot or too cold and everything costs too much!! But what helps us enjoy another's blog is to be taken away for even a brief few moments to some place that looks supremely beautiful and lifts our spirits just a tiny bit. I love a little bit of beauty and a little bit of reality. I get that most days and often find it here at your blog. :-)
ReplyDeleteProbably we can see gypsies small and big cities everywhere,generally poor people,I m sorry their situation.I wish happy years.Regards.
ReplyDeleteWell now, that might be a good idea, I will look for ugly things. As you know I don't live in a big city so it will be more difficult to find any.
ReplyDeleteMy best wishes to you for 2011.