In a time when handcrafted materials are rapidly falling out of use, a group of craftspeople in historic Kazancılar Çarşısı (Boilermakers Bazaar) in the southern Turkish province of Adana cling to their dying vocation. In a marketplace that is mostly occupied by modern shops today, craftsmen of different skills work tirelessly despite their advanced age.
The centuries-old marketplace, a popular location in Adana, is home to eponymous boilermakers, tailors, coppersmiths, carpenters and members of other professions whose customers have decreased over the past few decades. Most have been plying their trade for almost half a century but they still have the enthusiasm of their youth, whether sewing trousers or hammering and polishing copper boilers. After all, their skills are rare in a new era where the youth have little interest in those professions. Some are younger than their little shops across the bazaar and almost all learned their vocation from their "usta" (master).
Süleyman Küçükgöz is among them. The 70-year-old started work 57 years ago and has never moved the little shop where he works as a "sayacı" (upper-maker), a profession that involves the tailor-made design of shoes by shaping their soles and fabric by hand. Dropping out of school due to poverty, Küçükgöz found himself as an apprentice of a sayacı when he was still a child. In time, he rose to the rank of "kalfa" or journeyman before improving his skills enough to open up his own shops. "We did and are doing everything by hand. My skills gave me this job and thank God, I earned enough money to get my three children into university," he said.
It is the rise of the machines that spelled trouble for elderly craftsmen like Küçükgöz. Factories churning out shoes, which craftspeople like Küçükgöz cannot make in such a short time, led to the closure of other shops in the bazaar. Küçükgöz himself reduced his workload and now simply prepares shoe lasts in his small shop. "I have a pension but I prefer working here, instead of spending my time in coffeehouses. I spent so much time here in this bazaar. I got to know many people, some died, some quit the job. People still shop from me and view me as the last 'stronghold' of this profession," he said.
Güneri Filizgil, a 63-years-old coppersmith, first stepped into the bazaar when he was 8 years old. His father wanted him to "learn the job" for future prospects when he had him hired by a coppersmith as an apprentice. He used to work at the shop in the afternoon when he was a young boy but spent all his time there after he dropped out of school when his father died and he had to provide for his family. Filizgil started out in the business doing traditional copper boilers and small heaters. Over time, his business evolved, and nowadays he exclusively makes copper plates used in baking desserts and food. "I love my job. It is a beautiful handcraft. I make enough money for a living," he says.
Abdullah Inler has worked as a tailor since he was 9 years old. The 69-year-old man, like his neighbors in the bazaar, started work as an apprentice. He recalls the days when his profession was "esteemed" and they barely had any free time due to trying to meet the demand. "The technology is advanced now and the sound of sewing machines, which never stopped here, is nowhere now," he laments.
