Cemre Yesil & Maria Sturm – For Birds’ Sake

La Fábrica 2015

The photographers Maria Sturm and Cemre Yesil have portrayed a practice rooted in the Ottoman Empire which has been adopted by Turkish men for centuries. The breeders or “bird men” have a close relationship with finches and keep them in covered cages to enhance the beauty of their songs. This tradition, in which only men participate, is at risk due to legislative changes in Turkey and the increasing urban development of Istanbul. Sturm and Yesil take a subtle approach to this relationship between men and birds, full of contradictions between passion, love and pleasure.