Cruising The Seven Seas: Forming a Circus

Forming a Circus

15^th September 2011

Here we are… the day we’ve all been waiting for – overnight in Istanbul! It’d been such a long time since we’d been in Istanbul for an overnight stay that we all needed some time off to relax and do whatever the hell we wanted. We all love Istanbul, there’s so much to do. It’s a city with two faces – a completely different city by night.

First thing was first – gangway. Usually we have to get 1,000 – 1,200 shots to ensure the night and following morning off. Due to the low counts on formal night we needed a whopping 1,500 images in total. We were going all out: Hernan was shooting Zoran the Camel; Fabio was shooting Sanela the belly dancer, I was shooting the rail and Alex the ring.

The gangway arrangement worked while there were two gangway exits open. When only one was open we had about 10 metres of space to squeeze ourselves into before the guests reached the terminal doors. We had literally formed a paparazzi circus within such a tiny space. It was ridiculous, we were all shouting and smudging like crazy.

Popping back onto the ship for a drink and to check my Quantum flash which was playing up, I walked into Zoran’s cabin. He was sweating like a pig in the camel costume and said he just couldn’t do it. The heat was too much for him to complete the entire gangway stint. Zoran simply wasn’t in the mood and was way too hot to smudge. I hate shooting the rail and made a joke saying if he wanted to shoot rail, I’d get into the costume. I didn’t expect for one minute he’d accept!

Climbing into the camel costume it was soaking with Zoran’s sweat – lovely! Hernan was laughing at how baggy the costume was on me. It was a sight to see! Putting the head on and it was nearly impossible to see. Your highest view point are people’s shins.

Going out to gangway and people noticed straight away the camel's sudden drop in height and started asking questions. That included the guests, too. The other photogs got a good laugh when I lifted the head to expose the camels true identity!!

With my music playing in one ear, I bopped and danced around, grabbing guests coming out of the ship. A couple of people slipped their hand down my back a little too low to see if I was a guy or girl. There were the odd “accidental” knocking or brushing their hands past the chest area too. It’s a strange thing people do – accept there’s a person inside and get on with it… don’t feel them up, to find out their sex!

Hernan started playing up, telling some of the men “there’s a sexy blonde girl inside… get your photo taken with her”. Some threw their arms around me and really pulled me in tight. Not nice! Hernan, I hate you sometimes!

The best came during the quiet periods on gangway. Zoran and Hernan took it upon themselves to knock me over and jump on my back for a "camel ride". Not being able to see didn't help, as you have no idea what's going on until you you're forced to the ground, followed by their hysterical laughing and climbing on your back!! Being a photographer, someone was good enough to photograph it for future reference. This kind of messing around on gangway is really what makes working with this team fun. You never know what

Finishing up on gangway, our target wasn’t even in sight! I think we were about 400 images off our total target.

Showering, changing and getting something to eat, we came back to the cabins and were all planning to head out into the city together. Walking into the cabin, Sandra was asleep. Crawling into bed I set my alarm for an hour and a half’s time.

Waking up, I must have turned the alarm off. There was a note for me on the cabin mirror from Sandra saying she was using the Internet in Nargilem and to meet her there. Packing my laptop in my bag, I made the short walk to Nargilem, just outside the port. Sandra was nowhere to be seen and I couldn’t get online.

Walking back to the ship, I grabbed my Ipod and some extra money and headed back to Nargilem. I heard my name being called from across the room – it was Sandra. She’d been there all along... just at the opposite end of Nargilem, rather than our usual spot. Sitting down together, I still couldn’t get online!

After what seemed a lifetime, I was online and surfing the net. My parents were online and soon to be travelling back to Uruguay. Zoran and Fabio came over and were introduced to Mama. That didn’t go down too well when the two nitwits thought it’d be funny to say and make a few rude gestures and comments. Luckily enough my mama didn’t see or hear!! Boys will be boys, but boy! I could strangle the pair of them sometimes.

When Zoran and Fabio left, Sandra and I ordered a Caramel Nargilem to share between us. During the evening there were rounds of Skype calls, puffing on nargilems, Turkish orange green tea and Famous Toast which is a must in Istanbul!! I can't really tell you what's inside the Famous Toast other than cheese and meat - no idea what type of meat, though.

Towards the end of the night the two Lauras and Luis spotted us while walking past Nargilem and joined us. They too were looking for somewhere with an internet connection and food at a reasonable price. Well, they'd found the best place to go!

By 3am we were completely shattered and decided to call it a night. This was a sure sign that we are reaching the end of our contracts and growing old! Usually we’d be awake until the crack of dawn… now we were struggling to keep our eyes open past midnight!

We’ve made a promise that next time, we will go all out in Istanbul – which will be our last. We’re planning on get the photographers together to do something as a team. A memorable experience for our final Istanbul, especially as four of us will be leaving in October before the trans-Altantic. In short, we were determined to leave Istanbul with a bang!