crazy murat
I've been wanting to post this story for a while.
In 2007 I spent a week in ISTANBUL, TURKEY, doing a project/exhibition sponsored by LEE JEANS EUROPE ... I shot for 3 days, and then we put up a big show in the GARAGE ISTANBUL space.
On the first day, while roaming the city streets, I noticed a guy walking around reading from a book. Of course, I snapped a shot and moved on. Later when we were editing for the show, we really liked the shot. A couple of days later, I did an interview for a local daily paper, HURIYET, talking about how I started shooting to basically PRESERVE MY SANITY during the madness that was going on in my country in 1993. Among others, they chose this image to accompany the interview ....
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpbGrR4IH0mBHL6xalfJ-AoRrhjsYGRb-R3ngCsURu8LnNNsSAK-opwZzXr2q2Dy3KPswSgdHzFC_c0O8Xe0clspwoGm4arATQVluPBCdSzfl2Z9btfwuJYGZZ_wwy9nOR8QrdvZjL1FE/s400/istanbul18.jpg)
At the opening of the show, I noticed a familiar face in the crowd, and realized it was the reading guy ... he approached me, very excited to be in the show; his friend had seen the article and told him about it. His name was MURAT KOCAK, and he gave me the book he was reading from as a present. The guy had amazing energy.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb7t2gz8aSMJf9IpuMvxbySXdh9TL1b8q4fFchGKb0ERBv1nzU0_jAyO_90UHsh7xdjGdwIlfaAugMjR6De4nxs2RUZtIc1USDGH_AxBWkBCQp9IxKY_U0tEXSrLrhc3_mbSeZBRAEkyA/s400/murats_book.jpg)
The day after the opening I stopped by the gallery, and they told me that Murat had stopped by to give me something. It was his personal handmade diary.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2ChBHh8fNdCp78PPg0tA9kj9r-np20GxRtap6OAArgtW051BLp5_Jb-RD-WoEPut28ZKaO6wJdTic7DOVfG-OFrGDjyo80uDuUhh6SrMNqnh1CVN-610asqOgvCnYt-nUa2NorTxjQI/s400/diary1.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxBOQ8Wz4hF1HW9KRxWYx_VD6VwsugjL7lEkvNcNbi7bnXKtPVStdeBwkK9ttHVrynsk5FwHrK4OwC2rTWd4bWxRxcyOYWFZjr7U9pPgh-T5viqzfIgP0xdK3r0oYsLyz3QKi-fg0K9Q/s400/diary2.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0AFnedBjpgvu8QKiD4Pi_aZfEqlYn06jl-Y8coLo4CpM4bpdvn5_MuI3Cxsr4GdCIqhj7eoY43NcbcoY68n9FOmIEqr5xt_6Jdeb3CKuymqkf-LJj4HEEzB0-bOaFURJEPdM6qOJfweA/s400/diary3.jpg)
On the last several pages of the diary he wrote me a note ....
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFOatbZXv_d8N-Icy_70iTWBYLiuPjJYHvDuIm2m1Zi7LdUQzMw2gih1eiAft_QTXB8ZGmcyZ1sLb8ZIf57LzLgt2tQkXm1kqOrs3psQxGyA_qxvjy0u8E8fKDZs9UGLP2N1-39TdOuM/s400/text1.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7vDyisOLV_3D3c0LWBExPJSE3w1DmkuQ957GLWihyLwAWsJ7fNiI8B3-_b3h9F52dBIsS-rTMSDviv7DzVT_34IpLBWZ6VqMmxhb9lmD3cXvZIryg1SJGyjcBWKQOC0rFzBdnrPDFnE/s400/text2.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJqy6dUk6CoPIUVGVIBF6EJKCjCeER_qFaA_FdmVSjfwdsFpuN2lqPqwS3rqmiZ31A1R5sY63MGK6XAFh04eofBoRoPIUW-4dkvujGfDmUZgtUDV5-FBSsaoyBa_Zm2o7gySEcg3ZJYYM/s400/text3.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVSm7GfVcr1k1lln1oYiDgwuikVGH_FnEQLgkzSdodALKLQPDgR-q-KHV86j9SylBuG-eGLBbUSLD0O51uAYFxrVqFmz1h2fWo9J6wNJM0c6g8R6T7RFykuBlkMw2-k9b1wS8ZjvAkaM/s400/text4.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcBWcJ0C8Ar4ox0pXqLtQq092tdN4Au1BKZsPyXCm_QmWp-4IC2c-64Oq_KsSIPh9S-jDK15_NlsR_1WjuQN0UKjWVSvlH7UHm70FGpdbtlk0f1mrrZk8Hl8Kx8o37i18_6s2UA2tKEI/s400/text5.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzHnmK-T9H_TMYlpEIooBOq4TNUrgnq1ZgsejtT0Ok0yxfMurqdXCxhcOIIZBycwlqR2VA19VUbUmxMDDmEoJ5HS8TJE26SXy90SoT2duVi7UAXyIIIcGxXVXUJ-mku0qYnVWYqHhMv4/s400/text6.jpg)
Here is the translation by my Turkish friend ....
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwa7vdoYwM-E8kbCghwU3Xx269drBVAXtIgtsV6fA7Op6FHQ-VGOryi9oVNto-lzHHsqLD9JYVLgP0z-k3RjJ_f1s131cb7terhq1HDuUu-YasKvckLRaFteetpHCYFEBlr3XZVUu1dtQ/s400/text_translate.jpg)
I was DEEPLY, DEEPLY touched, almost to the point of tears.
These are the things that make this life worth living.
In 2007 I spent a week in ISTANBUL, TURKEY, doing a project/exhibition sponsored by LEE JEANS EUROPE ... I shot for 3 days, and then we put up a big show in the GARAGE ISTANBUL space.
On the first day, while roaming the city streets, I noticed a guy walking around reading from a book. Of course, I snapped a shot and moved on. Later when we were editing for the show, we really liked the shot. A couple of days later, I did an interview for a local daily paper, HURIYET, talking about how I started shooting to basically PRESERVE MY SANITY during the madness that was going on in my country in 1993. Among others, they chose this image to accompany the interview ....
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpbGrR4IH0mBHL6xalfJ-AoRrhjsYGRb-R3ngCsURu8LnNNsSAK-opwZzXr2q2Dy3KPswSgdHzFC_c0O8Xe0clspwoGm4arATQVluPBCdSzfl2Z9btfwuJYGZZ_wwy9nOR8QrdvZjL1FE/s400/istanbul18.jpg)
At the opening of the show, I noticed a familiar face in the crowd, and realized it was the reading guy ... he approached me, very excited to be in the show; his friend had seen the article and told him about it. His name was MURAT KOCAK, and he gave me the book he was reading from as a present. The guy had amazing energy.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb7t2gz8aSMJf9IpuMvxbySXdh9TL1b8q4fFchGKb0ERBv1nzU0_jAyO_90UHsh7xdjGdwIlfaAugMjR6De4nxs2RUZtIc1USDGH_AxBWkBCQp9IxKY_U0tEXSrLrhc3_mbSeZBRAEkyA/s400/murats_book.jpg)
The day after the opening I stopped by the gallery, and they told me that Murat had stopped by to give me something. It was his personal handmade diary.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt2ChBHh8fNdCp78PPg0tA9kj9r-np20GxRtap6OAArgtW051BLp5_Jb-RD-WoEPut28ZKaO6wJdTic7DOVfG-OFrGDjyo80uDuUhh6SrMNqnh1CVN-610asqOgvCnYt-nUa2NorTxjQI/s400/diary1.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxBOQ8Wz4hF1HW9KRxWYx_VD6VwsugjL7lEkvNcNbi7bnXKtPVStdeBwkK9ttHVrynsk5FwHrK4OwC2rTWd4bWxRxcyOYWFZjr7U9pPgh-T5viqzfIgP0xdK3r0oYsLyz3QKi-fg0K9Q/s400/diary2.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0AFnedBjpgvu8QKiD4Pi_aZfEqlYn06jl-Y8coLo4CpM4bpdvn5_MuI3Cxsr4GdCIqhj7eoY43NcbcoY68n9FOmIEqr5xt_6Jdeb3CKuymqkf-LJj4HEEzB0-bOaFURJEPdM6qOJfweA/s400/diary3.jpg)
On the last several pages of the diary he wrote me a note ....
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFOatbZXv_d8N-Icy_70iTWBYLiuPjJYHvDuIm2m1Zi7LdUQzMw2gih1eiAft_QTXB8ZGmcyZ1sLb8ZIf57LzLgt2tQkXm1kqOrs3psQxGyA_qxvjy0u8E8fKDZs9UGLP2N1-39TdOuM/s400/text1.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB7vDyisOLV_3D3c0LWBExPJSE3w1DmkuQ957GLWihyLwAWsJ7fNiI8B3-_b3h9F52dBIsS-rTMSDviv7DzVT_34IpLBWZ6VqMmxhb9lmD3cXvZIryg1SJGyjcBWKQOC0rFzBdnrPDFnE/s400/text2.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJqy6dUk6CoPIUVGVIBF6EJKCjCeER_qFaA_FdmVSjfwdsFpuN2lqPqwS3rqmiZ31A1R5sY63MGK6XAFh04eofBoRoPIUW-4dkvujGfDmUZgtUDV5-FBSsaoyBa_Zm2o7gySEcg3ZJYYM/s400/text3.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVSm7GfVcr1k1lln1oYiDgwuikVGH_FnEQLgkzSdodALKLQPDgR-q-KHV86j9SylBuG-eGLBbUSLD0O51uAYFxrVqFmz1h2fWo9J6wNJM0c6g8R6T7RFykuBlkMw2-k9b1wS8ZjvAkaM/s400/text4.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcBWcJ0C8Ar4ox0pXqLtQq092tdN4Au1BKZsPyXCm_QmWp-4IC2c-64Oq_KsSIPh9S-jDK15_NlsR_1WjuQN0UKjWVSvlH7UHm70FGpdbtlk0f1mrrZk8Hl8Kx8o37i18_6s2UA2tKEI/s400/text5.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWzHnmK-T9H_TMYlpEIooBOq4TNUrgnq1ZgsejtT0Ok0yxfMurqdXCxhcOIIZBycwlqR2VA19VUbUmxMDDmEoJ5HS8TJE26SXy90SoT2duVi7UAXyIIIcGxXVXUJ-mku0qYnVWYqHhMv4/s400/text6.jpg)
Here is the translation by my Turkish friend ....
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwa7vdoYwM-E8kbCghwU3Xx269drBVAXtIgtsV6fA7Op6FHQ-VGOryi9oVNto-lzHHsqLD9JYVLgP0z-k3RjJ_f1s131cb7terhq1HDuUu-YasKvckLRaFteetpHCYFEBlr3XZVUu1dtQ/s400/text_translate.jpg)
I was DEEPLY, DEEPLY touched, almost to the point of tears.
These are the things that make this life worth living.
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