Black and white

Photograph of a winnowing scene, outside the village of Kioneli (Gönyeli). The photograph was taken in 1948 by Nidai Arabacıali, Kioneli (Gönyeli). In the middle distance there are trees and the village houses, and also a threshing scene, with the Keryneia mountain range in the background. Threshing, the separating of the grain from the straw, took place on the threshing floor, where the sheaves of the cut wheat were taken. Here we see two animals dragging a threshing board (Turk. düven, TCy düğen, Greek doukáni = threshing sledge); this sledge, studded with flints, was tied to the yoke of the animals, which were driven around on the threshing floor.

The main scene in the foreground is winnowing, which followed after threshing. For winnowing to begin, a favourable wind, blowing from North to South (to Mecca), was necessary; thus, winnowing started when summer breezes (meltem = off-shore breeze that blows daily for a period in summer) started; the farmers, using large forks (dirgen), tossed the grain and chaff into the air so that the chaff was blown away by the wind and the grain fell on the ground; this motion is clearly seen in the photograph as the men throw chaff and grain to the Northeast. This is the first winnowing after threshing the harman (heap of grain for threshing, mixture) on the threshing floor; a second winnowing of the grain followed, and then the grain was put through a sieve (kalbur = rimmed sieve with coarse meshes). In the photograph there are four workmen from Kioneli (Gönyeli), and their names are: Tuvzuz, Aziz Gara Hasan, Garagöz Ömer and Davulcu Mehmet Ali. All of them wear trousers and white shirts; for protection from the hot sun, their heads are covered with white scarves or hats. They also wear leather peasants’ top boots. No woman is seen in the field.

Information offered by Nebile Dayı and Hasan Dayı.

Source of the photograph: Aşkın Dervişoğluları.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.

Photograph of Mulla Hüseyin Avcı Ali (1872-1950); it was taken in 1948, in front of a wall built of stone in the lower part with a mudbrick superstructure. The old man stands holding a stick, and his shadow falls on the wall behind him. He wears a jacket made of English cashmere fabric over a white, loom-woven shirt with collar. His knee-breeches (kara dizlik) were also woven in the loom and then dyed black by the dyer (boyacı). Tied around the upper part of the breeches at the waist, there is a girdle of white woven cotton cloth, decorated with pompons (tomtomlu, ponponlu). All these clothes look worn. His village-style leather top boots are tied under the knee with strings made of goat hair. In this case, as in many other examples, the western-style jacket is combined with traditional dress items.

Source: Veli Avcı.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.

Photograph of Arabacı Hüseyin Mıstıkoğlu. He is standing on the front part of a traditional wooden horse cart (at arabası) and holds the reins of the mule which pulls the cart. The cart is on a country road. Fields and trees are seen around; there is also a car on the road far behind. The mule bears the traditional harness, decorated with a series of small bells hanging from a leather strap on the chest. The cart is fully loaded with stacked up sheaves made of the cut wheat or barley. It is the time after harvesting, and the sheaves of the crops are taken to the threshing floor.

The cart driver (arabacı) wears a white shirt and long trousers with a belt at the waist; he has also a white scarf wrapped around his head for protection from the hot summer sun. His name Arabacı, indicates his profession.

Source: Aşkın Derviş.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.

Photograph of Hüseyin Mıstıkoğlu, born in 1909. The photograph was taken in 1948. He is shown ploughing a field outside the village of Kioneli (Gönyeli); the houses of the village with some palm trees and other trees in the gardens, are seen in the background. Hüseyin drives an iron plough drawn by two mules. The animals bear the traditional harness decorated with a series of bells under the neck; the plough is connected with the harness by iron chains. The man stands behind the plough guiding it with his right hand, and holds a long stick in his left hand. He wears the typical farmer’s dress: a white headscarf (gölgelik from gölge = shade) protects him from the sun; over a white shirt (gömlek) he has a grey cotton jacket (sakko/sakgo = coat, loose jacket), matched with farmer’s trousers (çiftçi pantalonu) and leather knee boots (çangar çizmesi); the boots are tied on the upper part, under the knees, with a string made of goat hair (keçi kılından örme). Around the waist he has a leather belt with buckle. Next to Hüseyin stands his three-year-old son, İdris; he wears a dress over a white blouse, the sleeves of which are exposed, white stockings and leather shoes. In the past boys used to wear dresses until their circumcision ceremonies. On the ground between the two, there is a seed basket (zembil) made of plaited palm leaves.

Source: İdris Mıstıkoğlu.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.

Photograph of four women in the fields near Kioneli (Gönyeli), taken in 1946. The four women stand in a row, each holding her wood-handled sickle in the right hand and a bunch of barley in the left. They wear clothes suitable for work in the fields.

The first woman on the left side of the photograph is Ayten Erkasap, born in 1938. She wears a white headscarf (made of humayın), which falls loosely on her shoulders and chest, a light-coloured, loom-woven sleeved dress, the front lower part of which is covered by an apron with a pocket, and traditional leather boots (çangar çizmesi – peasant boots made by a bootmaker, çangar, Greek tsagkáris).

The second young woman is Fatma Arabacıoğlu, born in 1932. The scarf (yemeni) which covers the back of her head, leaving exposed most of her black hair, is decorated with fine lace and tassels. Her dress is made of a striped fabric, with the stripes arranged vertically on the upper part and diagonally on the cloche (guloş) skirt. The dress has a collar bordered with ready-made (machine-made) lace, and is closed with buttons in front down to the waist. She also wears, like all four women in the photograph, traditional boots made especially for women; they come up to the middle of the shin, and are provided with tassels.

The third from the left is an older woman, the mother of the girls, Emine Kofalı (1910-1990). She wears a two-piece çarşaf (upper part and skirt). Her headscarf is made of indigo blue silk and linen cloth, and covers the whole head and the forehead down to the eyebrows; her long hair is plaited in two braids, which fall on either side on the chest. The lower part of the çarşaf is made of silk and cotton and is tied with a girdle at the waist. Her dress (entari) is loom-woven. The boots have red tassels.

The fourth woman is Kezban Dereli, born in 1938. She wears a white headscarf (made of humayın cloth), the ends of which are tied under the chin, and a dress made of a fabric with checker patterns; it has a collar and is buttoned in front. Her arms are covered with loom-woven cuffs.

Source: Ayten Erkasap.

Village: Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.

Photograph of a group of people, men, women and children, in the fields with a harvesting machine. The names recorded are: Yorgozlu Ömer, Mehmet Patariyacı, Keziban, Derviş Ahmet, Havva Kavaz, Hasan Damdelen (father of Aziz Damdelen), B. Mehmet, kızı (daughter) Sultan Keziban, Hacı Ali, B. Hasan, Halide Süleyman, Adem uzun Hasan. The photograph was taken in 1946, as noted on its upper part. It was the harvest time for barley, which usually started by mid-April. The fields with the ripe crop extend far back in the distance, where the Keryneia mountain range is to be seen. All persons form a group around and on a harvesting machine; it is of the earliest type, which was drawn by a pair of oxen. The wooden yoke tied onto the protruding shaft with a thick cord made from oxhide thongs plaited together (lourikós in Greek Cypriot), is clearly visible. In the course of harvesting, women and children used to bind the cut corn into sheaves, which were then stacked up in ricks. Several ricks are to be seen on the field in the background; there are also a couple of bound sheaves lying on the field in the foreground, and another one is held by a woman who stands in front of the oxen. She seems to wear trousers under a long white overcoat, and her head is covered with a black veil (çarşaf). At the extreme right of the photograph stands a young boy dressed with knee-length trousers and a white shirt; he holds in his arms a baby with a white skullcap. Next to the boy stand three young girls wearing working clothes and headscarves (yemeni), also leather peasant boots made for women; there is one more woman behind the harvesting machine, wearing a white headscarf with ends tied under her chin. The males of the group, one boy and three men, are on the machine. The man sitting in front wears a white shirt, long trousers and boots; the man behind him is similarly dressed; both wear the same type of white headscarf that could cover the ears (TCy: kulak çapıdı). The young man at the back wears a hat.

Village Kioneli (Gönyeli), Nicosia District.

Copy of an old photograph, a street photograph taken in 1942. It shows three men. The one sitting in the middle is a gypsy (gurbet or roman), as is also the person standing on the right side. The third person, on the left, is Polili Hasan Dayı, and is wearing British army style short khaki pants and stockings, also a white short-sleeved shirt and modern laced shoes.

The sitting man is İsmail Rayit. He wears a work shirt (işbir gömlek), dark-coloured (black) baggy trousers (şalvar or vráka) and Frankish knee boots. The man to the right is Abdıraman Aşık Hüsein, born in 1912 (information taken in 1997). He wears a work shirt (işbir gömlek), a cloth belt (kuşak/guşak) and trousers. He was married eleven times, the first time at the age of 18.

Source of information: Hüseyin Baritogdo, 1997.

Street photograph, most probably taken in the Public Garden in Nicosia, outside the Paphos Gate. It shows an old lady standing between two young persons, a woman on her right and a man on her left, and holding a bunch of flowers. She wears a two-piece black çarşaf over a light-coloured inner garment. The upper part covers the hair and part of the forehead. Her black bar shoes are fastened with a buckle and her stockings are white.

The young lady wears a modern variation of the çarşaf, a skirt long enough just to cover the knees, combined with a chequered, fitted jacket over what seems to be a blouse. The çarşaf covers the head, being tied around the forehead, and comes down at the back, leaving the hair visible below it on both sides. She wears low-heeled black shoes over white stockings.

The man is dressed in a European-style two-piece suit, a woollen knitted pullover over a dark-coloured shirt and a striped scarf around the neck. Black leather shoes and belt, a fresh carnation on the lapel of the jacket and a handkerchief in the pocket, complete his attire.

Street photograph of a young man with moustache. He is dressed in a mixed style, wearing a European jacket over a traditional costume. It consists of a white woven shirt, blue, knee-long baggy trousers (şalvar) and a sash (tarabulus kuşak) around his waist, from which is hanging the chain (köstek) of his watch. He also wears ankle boots (gonçlu potin) and knitted stockings with flower patterns on white background. His fez is wrapped in a scarf (yemeni) decorated with lace. Attached to the lapel of his jacket is a carnation, and in his breast pocket a handkerchief. He also wears two rings, one on each hand.

Studio photograph showing two young men, Hüseyin İsmail and Halil Ahmet, standing close together, both with short hair in kahkül style and Hitler-type moustache. The man on the right of the photograph (Halil Ahmet) wears a European-style suit made of striped fabric, a white shirt and a patterned tie. A white handkerchief appears in his breast pocket. His shoes are also western-style laced shoes. The other man (Hüseyin İsmail) wears a European jacket over his white shirt, in the opening of which a vest (fanella) is to be seen underneath. The rest of his dress is traditional. He wears çuha şalvar made of light blue broadcloth and decorated with black patterns. Around his waist he has a colourful silk sash (ipek tarabulus kuşak). His white woven stockings come up to the knees where they meet the ends of the şalvar. His footwear consists of black elastic-sided ankle boots (gonçlu potin) with white upper parts. A carnation is attached to the lapel of the jacket, and the breast pocket holds a handkerchief and a cigarette. Both men have cigarettes behind their ears, expressing their desire to look flamboyant.