Childhood fascination stored in photographs
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Kübra Kangüleç
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 25, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Childhood is the most nostalgic period of a person’s life. During those years, people are free to follow their dreams or to be charmed even by a tiny sparkling star, but unfortunately time passes, sweeping away the dust of pixies and pushing the chaos of daily life ever closer. Childhood dreams are then forgotten until an object brings back memories from the past. Indeed, this is the case for Ankara-born Hüseyin Çiloğlu who travels through cities just to take photos of his childhood fancy -- tractors.
"When you look at the photos, you can understand how much I love them. My love of tractors is as much as my love for my son and my daughter. You can call it craziness, or love for these primitive but historical machines. Whatever you say, they mean so much to me," Çiloğlu said, before outlining his life story.
Çiloğlu’s interest in tractors dates back to his childhood. As a child who lived in a village, tractors became his toys, which he could not drive but watched with great admiration. Years later, Çiloğlu went to a junkyard in Ankara and a ghost among childhood memories rose up again.
"I saw stripped tractors and I felt as if I had lost a person who I had loved very much. I had a photo of 1953 model Massey Harris at home and I thought I could eternalize old tractors by taking their photos," Çiloğlu said, pointing to his huge photo archive.
Çiloğlu started his research on Turkey’s old tractors in 1999 and managed to find most of them in two years. Although he did not have a concrete list of all the tractors that were used in Turkey after the foundation of the Republic, Çiloğlu said the first tractors were imported into the country in 1924, referring to articles in the library of the agriculture faculty of a university.
To find these old beauties and to develop his archive, Çiloğlu has traveled to many cities, including Eskişehir, Konya, Hatay, Yozgat, İzmir, Kırklareli, Edirne, Tokat and Manisa. "However, as tractors are mostly used in rural areas, I also had to visit the towns and villages in these cities. Through tractors, I have met many people and have friends all around the world," he said.
Expansive archive
Çiloğlu’s archive currently includes 2,200 negative film frames of 60 tractors, some of which include, a 1934 model Lanz Bulldog 17, a 1939 model Fordson, a 1947 model Ferguson-TE20, a 1948 model Massey Harris pony, a 1953 model John Deere-r, a 1962 model Fordson Dexta and a 1963 model Fordson Major. The photos were all taken with a Canon camera using Kodak Gold Film. The archive was exhibited in the city of Bursa in the Marmara region, with sponsorship from Akbank, in 2000.
Stating that such an extended archive could make a great contribution to the history of agriculture in Turkey and to the departments of agriculture in universities, Çiloğlu added each stripped tractor has a lost value. "The most important vehicle in a village is a tractor as it is the locomotive of agriculture," he said.
"I showed the photos to academics at some universities who are specialized in the history of agricultural mechanization. They found my archive very precious," he said. Now, Çiloğlu aims to create an extended archive in each agriculture department across the country. "To attain my goal, I have to travel throughout Turkey and find other old tractors," he said, adding he first needs a sponsor.
With such an extensive archive, Çiloğlu not only pursues his childhood memories but also presents a precious gift to Turkey, a history of its agricultural development in the Republican period told through photographs.
Çiloğlu’s interest in tractors dates back to his childhood. As a child who lived in a village, tractors became his toys, which he could not drive but watched with great admiration. Years later, Çiloğlu went to a junkyard in Ankara and a ghost among childhood memories rose up again.
"I saw stripped tractors and I felt as if I had lost a person who I had loved very much. I had a photo of 1953 model Massey Harris at home and I thought I could eternalize old tractors by taking their photos," Çiloğlu said, pointing to his huge photo archive.
Çiloğlu started his research on Turkey’s old tractors in 1999 and managed to find most of them in two years. Although he did not have a concrete list of all the tractors that were used in Turkey after the foundation of the Republic, Çiloğlu said the first tractors were imported into the country in 1924, referring to articles in the library of the agriculture faculty of a university.
To find these old beauties and to develop his archive, Çiloğlu has traveled to many cities, including Eskişehir, Konya, Hatay, Yozgat, İzmir, Kırklareli, Edirne, Tokat and Manisa. "However, as tractors are mostly used in rural areas, I also had to visit the towns and villages in these cities. Through tractors, I have met many people and have friends all around the world," he said.
Expansive archive
Çiloğlu’s archive currently includes 2,200 negative film frames of 60 tractors, some of which include, a 1934 model Lanz Bulldog 17, a 1939 model Fordson, a 1947 model Ferguson-TE20, a 1948 model Massey Harris pony, a 1953 model John Deere-r, a 1962 model Fordson Dexta and a 1963 model Fordson Major. The photos were all taken with a Canon camera using Kodak Gold Film. The archive was exhibited in the city of Bursa in the Marmara region, with sponsorship from Akbank, in 2000.
Stating that such an extended archive could make a great contribution to the history of agriculture in Turkey and to the departments of agriculture in universities, Çiloğlu added each stripped tractor has a lost value. "The most important vehicle in a village is a tractor as it is the locomotive of agriculture," he said.
"I showed the photos to academics at some universities who are specialized in the history of agricultural mechanization. They found my archive very precious," he said. Now, Çiloğlu aims to create an extended archive in each agriculture department across the country. "To attain my goal, I have to travel throughout Turkey and find other old tractors," he said, adding he first needs a sponsor.
With such an extensive archive, Çiloğlu not only pursues his childhood memories but also presents a precious gift to Turkey, a history of its agricultural development in the Republican period told through photographs.