Ali is back in Berlin. He called me the other week to meet up with him for a tea. I only had my 35mm film camera on hand, but I suppose analog suits him well… And just when we thought we’d seen all his suits, here he is in a shiny silver one!
This is Ali. He walks past my work every morning wearing great clothes /
www.zoespawton.com
www.zoespawton.com
April 23, 2017
November 23, 2016
It seems there’s been a bit of a renewed interest in the blog the last few days, and with that people are of course wondering about Ali. He’s back in Turkey at the moment with his family. He called me a month or so ago, and seemed in good spirits. For those asking about the book, unfortunately it never came to fruition, but I hope one day it will! (any publishers out there?!) In the meantime it’s nice to see so many people from around the world still enjoying the photos and the story.
Zoe
September 19, 2015
Look who I ran into last night! Ali has been filling in at his old job for his former boss who has been sick. I was on my way to work to photograph a concert we had on, and so just happened to have my camera on me when I almost rode past him at the bus stop. I must say, Ali seemed quite content having just done a days work back at the shop.
June 23, 2015
Well, it’s been a long time indeed between photos. Ali and I have been meeting up for coffee every now and then over the past few months, but this was the first time the opportunity arose to take his photo.
He was in Turkey for a while, and I get the feeling coming back to Berlin has been quite hard for him this time. He really misses his home, and I believe he’ll probably move back to Turkey on a more permanent basis soon. Of course I’ll miss him, but he’s already told me he’ll book me a flight to come visit!
February 3, 2015
Folks, I need your help!
For a while now, I’ve been wanting to make a book of my photos of Ali. So I’ve put together a mock up, with the intention of sending it to publishers. Honestly though, I don’t quite know where to start. Can anyone give me the details of someone I might contact? You can email me at mail@zoespawton.com
I went to Ali’s for lunch last week, and gave him one of the mock up copies. He seemed quite pleased with it, but of course I’d love to be able to present him with a proper book one day! Many thanks in advance for any assistance you can give.
(And here is a quick flick through preview: http://instagram.com/p/ypCicVQLGG/?modal=true )
January 2, 2015
I’ve been asked quite a few times by the press to be interviewed with Ali. However with the language barrier, and the fact that up until recently he was working six days a week, it was always just a bit too tricky to organise. However, when NPR got in contact, I made an exception! We met with Esme from NPR News a few weeks before Christmas. You can listen to the interview here:
This photo was taken last week at Kottbusser Tor, as Ali and I were on our way to grab a bite to eat together.
November 22, 2014
I met up with Ali for a quick cup of tea this afternoon around the corner from his house. It was his idea to shoot the photo in the spot where we used to out the front of my old work. (And yes, that is a Mickey Mouse tie!)
November 17, 2014
It’s been far too long since I’ve seen Ali! He has been ill, my work schedule has been a bit erratic, and then he lost his mobile phone. He’s feeling better now though, and yesterday he dropped in to work just as I was finishing my shift. We took the opportunity to wander up to the Warschauer Straße bridge and get a photo with the Berlin Fernsehturm (TV tower) in the background. It’s one of my favourite things about Berlin, as you can see it from pretty much anywhere in the city.
It’s likely I’ll have more opportunities to catch up with Ali now. He told me yesterday he will have more free time as he has stopped working…he is 85 after all!
September 22, 2014
True to his word, Ali dropped into my new place of employment yesterday to say hello. It was busy, so I didn’t have a lot of time to chat, but Ali did give me a plastic bag containing three chocolate bars…keeping me well stocked until we next meet, I suppose!
This is of course the suit Ali wore last year when we went to a Turkish wedding together < http://tmblr.co/ZaCbQui6jh4R > He seems to have found the perfect hat for it now!
September 8, 2014
I had a coffee with Ali and Kerim today at the shop. I hadn’t seen them in a while, so it was nice to catch up. As I was leaving, Ali prescribed one million kisses for me, half a million for my mum and half a million for my dad. Usually he says only one hundred thousand for my dad, and so I queried the change. He said it’s best not to make things complicated!
I think there was a little confusion with my last post. That wasn’t the last photo of Ali, or indeed the end of the blog, just the last one taken outside the cafe where I used to work. Ali has already told me he’s coming to visit me at my new job the next Sunday I’m working!
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