Lives in the dust clouds

 

   © Photos and Text: Gilcan Mete Delibay

When a person decides to take a photograph, he gets a record of everything that interests him. The day a person realizes why he is taking a photograph, he tells visual stories to the audience while he compiles the visual lights that reflect on him from life and reflects those images.

Horses have been with humans throughout history and have played an important role in the development of civilization. I took the photos of horses in the Hörmetçi village of Kayseri. I was very impressed by the struggle of the freely roaming horses with the villagers who were trying to catch them.

Yılkı horses live in herds and freely in the region. It was quite exciting to watch and photograph the struggle between the villagers who went after them to catch them.

Being in a white cloud created by the dust of the horses, feeling their approach from the vibration under my feet and taking pictures of their silhouettes when they appeared among the dust clouds were wonderful moments.

The captivity of the horses that the villagers rode and controlled with reins, and the wild horses that were trying to live free at all odds were a great contrast. In this sense, it was like the contrast between people fighting for freedom and people submitting to the system they live in. I took photos of the sheep herds that go to the mountains to graze in the evenings in the Ahlat region of Van in August 2020. The photos I took along the 10-kilometer long walkway after milking during the day were a visual feast. Herds of hundreds of sheep traveled tens of kilometers, following a shepherd. It was reminiscent of the flocks of people in crowded cities on the subways and on the roads. Like herds of sheep, human herds repeated the same routine every day just to be fed.