A repatriate’s eye on Turkey

Once Byzantium, once Constantinople, a crossroads for conquerors, a destination for traders from all over Europe and Asia, its diverse peoples are a reflection of the city's history. A case in point is Salvator Barki, a man who might at first be mistaken for an expatriate. Salvator is, however, a native-born Turkish citizen. I call him a “repatriate” with a camera's eye on the world.

Salvator's father was born in Bari, Italy; his mother's family originated in Thessalonica, Greece. He himself was born in İstanbul and holds a Turkish passport. In keeping with his mixture of cultural heritages, he says his family, except for his mother, his two daughters and one cousin, live scattered all over the world.

Although calling İstanbul his life-long home, Salvator has had many experiences of long-term overseas residence. He sums up his expatriate experiences, saying: “I went to study abroad in England. When I came back, I was married to a Jewish girl, my first wife. Together we later went to live in Italy and then in Israel. Even though I returned to Turkey for a long stay, my business picked me up and moved me to Los Angeles. I even had to live for about two years in Uzbekistan, where I maintained an import-export office.” He describes the latter experience as “Er, very interesting.”

Even though he still finds the postal system in Turkey a bit lacking in comparison to that of England and the United States, Salvator now laughs when talking about shipping items from Uzbekistan. Apparently the cargo company with which he had a contract had a rather lackadaisical attitude about moving goods from one country to another on a timely basis. Because of continual shipment delays, he once found himself actually having to pay more in fines than he made in profit.

On returning to Turkey to stay, this then-textile agent first lived in Sarıyer. It was beautiful in the beginning, but the area became so crowded and the commuting and traffic problems became so unbearable that the family decided to move back into the city. He smiles when he says: “We now live in Taksim. Actually, I quite like the city and the ease of being able to reach anywhere without using my car, so avoiding the headaches of the hectic traffic.”

Having been an expatriate elsewhere for years and so being very much influenced by living in other countries, Salvator admits to encountering a few adjustment issues. However, he sees much of this process as similar to the problems faced by non-Turkish expatriates. He comments: “It's pretty much standard, coping with the differences in culture and expectations. Maybe the lack of discipline can sometimes drive you crazy.”

As a native Turkish citizen, Salvator had to perform the obligatory military service, although only for a short term because he had been working abroad. He remembers one incident that made him realize how much of an “outsider” he had become, saying: “Having to shave with lemonade due to a water shortage, I asked a guy for his cologne. When the cologne burned, I reacted and said ‘Allah!' and the guy turns to his friend and said, ‘Can you see what Turkish cologne does? It makes even the gavur [non-Muslim], the foreigners, say “Allah!”' I still find this hilarious.”

One slight problem he still encounters is linguistic in nature. “While I can say my Turkish is mostly undistinguishable from that of Turks who have lived here all their lives, people often laugh very much at the idioms I use wrongly. My wife is especially amused,” he confesses. Describing what amuses him in return, he says: “My name takes many strange forms, from Solomon to Labrador. I have many funny stories. I once called a friend, a cell phone seller, and when his secretary asked who was calling and I said Salvator, I could hear her say to her boss, ‘Someone is calling from the laboratory'.”

When Salvator made the major decision to return to the country of his birth, he didn't realize how much the rest of his life would soon be affected. All of Salvator's business frustrations changed for the better when he found a new direction in life. A life-long avocation turned into a profitable vocation.

Salvator's interest in photography began early in life. He has been capturing the world around him in photos since his grandfather presented him with a single-lens reflex (SLR) camera on his 13th birthday. Despite all his mother's objections, he converted a small bathroom in the family home into a darkroom. Salvator's father supported his hobby by teaching him how to develop and print black and white photos. He soon formed a photography club at the English High School from which he graduated in İstanbul.

Everywhere this man with a camera went on his business travels, he took pictures. The images caught through his camera's lens are not merely snaps to store in a scrapbook. Instead, Salvator's photographs reveal his mind's eye's sense of the beauty of Turkey and other parts of the world. Sometimes his photos even are mistaken for paintings because of their sensitivity to light and perspective. Salvator credits his current dedication to his elder daughter, Nathalie, who studied photography at university, and to the constant encouragement of his younger daughter, Olivia. His passion, fueled by his family, led to him closing his office as a textile agent in order to pursue a career in photography. He attended the İstanbul Photography and Cinema Amateurs Club (İFSAK), where he learned the aspects of digital photography from world-renowned masters such as İzzet Keribar.

Salvator Barki is now himself an award-winning freelance photographer based in Taksim.

Among his many prizes are 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th prizes in the photo competition "Bridges: From yesterday until the present," held by the Büyükçekmece Municipality; a mention from the Municipality of İstanbul during the Republic Day festivities in 2007 and 2008; and exhibition prizes in competitions sponsored by the International Chamber of Shipping, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Photoplus and the Geological Engineer's Chamber of Commerce.

From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 40 of Salvator's framed works will be on display and available for purchase at Java Studio in the old city of Sultanahmet. The show's opening is from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 1. Do come meet Salvator that night. He is as charming as his work is riveting. And he loves compliments! For those unable to attend the exhibition, Salvator's exquisite photos can be viewed on his Web site, www.barki.org.