Feelings and thoughts at the city market, Thessaloniki, Greece
I suppose by now most of you know that I love to travel, as travel photography is one of my things. Or I better say it was my passion before the corona-virus. Anyway. I want to share with you a comparison, my experience from browsing the open street markets in Eastern and Western Europe. I haven't been at a large market in Asia yet so that's my basis of comparison. Intra-Europe ;)
Usually I carry a relatively big photo camera with me. Yup, I like my images to be of a good quality as I don't know if I'll even get the chance to be at that place again. Of course, I don't want to return to some places.
I remember walking with a couple friends the open city market of Reykjavik on our photo-trip there. It was obvious I am not a local guy, dressed with hiking tourist clothes and carrying that photo-equipment. My impression from those couple of hours spent there was that most of the sales persons were friendly, waving at me and giving me smiles most of the time. I had a similar experience in Belgium as well. Some of the sellers even posing for me.
Some time ago I had few hours to spend with friends and we decided to check the colorful and noisy central market of Thessaloniki. I tried to capture some street photos, I was hoping for friendly work environment portraits next to well arranged stands. I didn't get such. I was yelled at and chased away. I don't speak Greek but the body language, the hand gestures speak loudly for themselves. So I ended mostly with photos of my friends looking around...
I wonder, why is that? Few years ago I was thinking it was specific for the former communist/socialist countries, as in my Bulgaria the situation is the same. Serbia as well. On my photo travel to Romania I also had the same feeling sellers hate being photographed.
But when I had the same experience on my back in Greece, I said to myself... it's either the Balkans or a common thing for Eastern Europe.
Frankly, I cannot answer to myself why... Do they hide anything? Is there any illegal activities going on? I strongly doubt that. Or generally, people don't like themselves to working in the sales business? I was a salesman for some time and there was nothing to be ashamed of then. Really, I don't know.
Probably the only time I was left at peace taking photos was of some fish stands, strangely...
Wait, I just recalled I had the same feelings in Prague, Czech Republic at a temporary farmer market at a huge square very close to the old center.
I am confused... For real :)
Copyright: Damian Hadjiyvanov, Light Captured
My photo site: https://hadjiyvanov.com/
My NFT Showroom works: https://nftshowroom.com/lightcaptured/gallery
My Lensy.io works: https://lensy.io/lightcaptured/gallery
You are on Hive already? If not, what are you waiting for? Register and start earning crypto for sharing your passion: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=lightcaptured
For licensing my photos, please drop me a message on Discord: lightcaptured#2698
Thank you for all the support!
Have a great photo! :P
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know every user has their own profile map?
And so does every post as well!
Want to have your post on the map too?
Thank you :)
Lol! You must be a dead giveaway as a tourist with your camera!
I wonder if some sellers worry that you are taking photos as competition. When my daughter was in Germany, they went to a Christmas market and you weren't allowed to photograph any of the stalls in case you used their ideas, because many were handmade crafts. It could also be that many of them are camera shy.
Hehe, additionally, I am a bit taller than average and I can't hide in the crowd. So, an absolute tourist, indeed :)
That is interesting, thanks for sharing it. I suppose in Germany they put a big "Don't photograph" sign ;) In such case I won't mind as I know from the start I am not allowed. When the rules are set, it's ok, I guess ;)
But a camera-shy-seller? In the modern age where everybody has camcorders and decent quality cameras in their pockets, not to mention the CCTV everywhere? :))) I would understand a camera shy programmer (as was such one) or a banker, for instance :D
The same thing happens here, in Portugal. People quickly start shouting "No photos! Get the hell out here. Who are you to take photos from us?"
Well, you can leave if you feel threatened but we are protected by the law. Since these people are in public places, we can take photos of them whether they like it or not. 😝
You were still able to take some cool shots, though.
I can imagine :) I think everywhere in EU we can make photos freely on public places. The huge difference is how people react in each country...
That would be an interesting research. There is definitely some psychology behind that behavior that I don't understand.
I think it may be the same in much of the world. Maybe it's just a matter of trying to protect the little privacy we have left.
I just saw that you won @pixresteemer's Re-hive contest! Congrats! https://ecency.com/hive-179017/@pixresteemer/the-re-hive-contest-results-week-23-and-start-week-24
A good point. Carrying powerful enough computers in out pockets (smart phones) every day... any privacy is just an illusion, IMHO ;)
Thank you :)
great travel writing and street photography! congratulations my dear friend ♥️
Thank you!
Hiya, @LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest @979.
Your post has been manually curated by the @pinmapple team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!
Become part of our travel community:
Thanks so much for the mention and all the support, @LivingUKTaiwan and @pinmapple!