Bekir Kemal Ataman's Involvement in Various Hobbies

HAM Radio

After the earthquake disaster that hit Turkey in 1999, causing a few hundred thousand losses, I have joined several search and rescue volunteer groups. Observing that one of the biggest problems at times of crisis was the lack of proper communications, I decided to get hold of a transceiver. However, I was soon to learn that one needed a licence to be able to operate one. So, I attended the courses at TRAC, passed the exam and became a HAM with a CEPT Class 2 licence in May 2000. My special area of interest was, inevitably, disaster communications. In the following years, I carried this interest further and became one of the few disaster communications specialists in Turkey, serving several public organizations at times of need. Without doubt, this cannot be achieved without any knowledge of CW (Morse alphabet). So, I learnt it, passed the exam, and became a CEPT Class 1 licensed amateur in November 2004. You can find further information about my involvement with this hobby in my amateur radio page.

DIY

I had always been good in using tools since I was a child and I enjoyed it, too. This was focused mainly on book binding and carpentry/joinery at the time.

So it was no surprise I enjoyed back stage as well as acting in my years at Bogazici University Players. Finding a chance to practice my skills in carpentry/joinery when making decors, I had a chance to develop my interest in electric circuitry, after laying 800 meters of cabling, with a friend studying electrical engineering, for the new lighting system we had set up, when the auditorium went into a major renovation.

This knowledge helped me renew the whole cabling from scratch in one of the flats I stayed in in the following years.

Between 2011 and 2015 I converted a van into a motorhome, all by myself, except for metalworks.

Music

I had always had a good musical ear which I had inherited from my mother, who had been trained to be a music teacher, besides Turkish language and literature. Unfortunately she practised only the latter. So I was left on my own to find my way around on this path.

When I was in lower secondary school I had joined a Turkish folk music choir but my proper education in sight singing came when I had taken private tuition specially for this purpose, together with a group of friends, in 1983.

By coincidence, I learnt about the auditions for Turkish Radio and Television's Youth Choir, the following year. So, I went for it straight away, was accepted, and enjoyed practising music for two full years till I left for Britain. On my return I joined the choir again, but being the oldest one by age, I had to give an end to being the odd one out, at the end of the season.

The return came in 2004, when I heard about a choir consisting of adults, so I lost no time in joining them and have enjoyed being a member of the Istanbul European Choir for more than a year.

After I got retired in 2015, I attended the Giresun Belediye Conservatory to learn how to play the piano.

Moving back to Istanbul, I joined the Istanbul Symphony Choir in February 2016.

Photography

I started dealing with photography in the first year of my high school education. Joining the photography club, I took courses on darkroom techniques and the basic rules of perspective. Next year saw the addition of audio-visual methods to this interest. In the third year, I had my own darkroom, was elected the president of the Audio-Visual Club and started joining photography contests.

The first of these was the Robert College Annual Photography Contest among Turkish high school students. I received a fourth prize (mansiyon) and three more of my works were exhibited.

The real challenge, however, was that of Istanbul Photography and Cinema Amateurs Club's (IFSAK), the biggest and most prominent of its kind in Turkey. There, one of my photographs was exhibited and two of my slides joined a slide show, after a national contest.

My interest in photography continued during my University education, too, and I joined Bogazici University's photography club as soon as I enrolled. However, after the economic crisis created by the Ozal government with support from the military rule, it became an extremely expensive hobby. So, I had to quit and sell all of my equipment.

17 years after this, I inherited a camera from a loved person who knew my interest in photography. That marked the beginning of a new era and I started taking photographs again.

However there were two main differences: First, B/W photography was still very expensive and printing colour photographs was still beyond my reach. So I had to get my films developed and photos printed by others. Second, this time I was fascinated by light, whereas it had always been faces in my early period.

In November 2008, I bought by first (primitive) digital camera. This was replaced by a Canon EOS 450D in 2009 and a Nikon D90 in 2010.

In March 2012, I opened my first exhibition, with prints of my digital photos.

In November 2013, this was followed by my second exhibiton consisting of lighthouse photos.

You can find a selection of my digital photos at http://ta2rx.deviantart.com/

Cycling

Like most people, I have learnt how to cycle as a child. Since then it has been a sport I enjoy doing whenever I find the opportunity. The period when I practised it most, however, was when I was in London doing my MA. I had used it as my main means of transport during all that time. Unfortunately, trying the same in Istanbul did not work, both because of the geography (i.e. high hills) of the town and the mad traffic. Moving into the Princes Islands, where motor vehicle traffic is not allowed, I went back to cycling.

Motorcycling

A few years after I returned home, I realised it was possible to enjoy riding in the open air and not be obstructed by the geography. So I got a licence and bought a motorbike. I was soon to realise this was the most feasible means of transport in this city, bar the dangers inherent in being on two wheels. I could cope with that till the time my bike was stolen. After that, I got married and my wife made it clear she cannot cope with even the idea of it. So, that was the end of it. I am now divorced but have stayed away from motorbikes for far too long to go back.

Drama

Drama was one of the hobbies I enjoyed practising most. However, acting was only part of this fun; the biggest attraction was producing a collective work. On the other hand, I equally enjoyed back stage works like costume design and sawing, stage lighting, decor production, etc. The following list of things I have done at Bogazici University Players will give an idea about the variety:

Acting and decor production: 1979-81
Acting, decor and costume production and Adm. Council Membership: 1981-82
Stage lighting, electrical works, costume design and production: 1983-84
Stage management (i.e. everything backstage): 1984-85

Caving

In my first year at Bogazici University, I had joined the Spelology Club. There, I had a chance to enjoy camping, besides learning how to use ascenders, descenders, rope ladders, carabiners and knots, which helped me a lot in my Search and Rescue training after the earthquake in 1999.

Trekking

The year I spent a year at the spelology club made me become aware of my love of nature. So, I had a chance to enjoy camping and trekking quite a few times in the years to come.

Organic tree farming

My love of nature got stronger every year and finally I bought a piece of land a little less than four acres, where I practised organic farming of fruit trees, especially apples, till the time I had to sell it for financial reasons.

Cooking/eating

I have to admit, part of this interest in organic farming has got something to do with the pleasure I get in eating good food. Needless to say, enjoying eating results inÑat least for some peopleÑenjoying cooking, as well. Living alone for long years contributed in turning myself into a good cook, too. However, due to excesssive weight I had gained over the years, I had to give an end to this fun and start dieting instead.