YESIL, Cemre - For Bird's Sake. A veiled love story between men and birds from Istanbul

"A symbol of schism and confluence, a transcontinental city, Istanbul has always been the inspiration for great stories. But this is not a story about Istanbul; it is a story from the female vantage point about how a group of men devote their lives to raising goldfinches and greenfinches: a mysterious bond full of contradictions, love, possession and pleasure; the contradictions between the masculine and feminine; the female caress alongside the power of men; caregivers who compete for the bird that sings the best…
And two women who learn how to listen and speak." (...) "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." (publisher's note)