Chris Gravett

 

Kaya Mar

Today I went to Ealing to photograph Kaya Mar. I first met Kaya when I was shooting the N30 protest march last year. He had a lot of attention from the press as he had with him one of his rather large political satire paintings. I photographed the painting and gave it a mention, together with a link to Kaya's website, in my photoblog . The link was with a photo at the end of my blog. I had intended to contact Kaya witha view to perhaps taking some portraits of him.

At 1330 on Christmas Day I received a phone call from a number I did not know. A foreign accent began to enquire if I was Chris Gravett , my immediate thought was 'an Indian call centre on Xmas day whatever next?' But the voice mentioned my blog and I then caught the name Kaya. Kaya told me, with some excitement, how an American couple had contacted him on Christmas morning, visited him and purchased some of his works as a present for a friend. Kaya was overwhelmed with the sale and explained the couple had found him through my blog - he could not thank me enough. It really was like a slushy Xmas movie scene. I have to say though it kind of made my day.

So today I visited Kaya and photographed him with his work, in his studio (shed!) and in his garden. Kaya is an amazing guy. Born to Spanish parents in Istanbul he has lived in Turkey, France and then London when he was initially an animator. He has travelled widely I gather as he talked of being in Russia and Germany as we chatted. He is primarily a landscape artist and tells me he can usually be found on the riverside at Richmond. He describes himself as left wing but not a militant. With his politcal satire paintings he aims to portray images that will make the people smile as they identify with his message. These images have brought him a lot of exposure over recent months with news agencies, newspapers and TV companies clammering to portray his work and involve him in doucumentaries.

It was a pleasure to photograph him today and to spend a few hours listening to his view of the world and his love of life as an artist. An honour to be in the company of such a modest and wise gentleman. Click here for Kaya's website