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Murat Pulat is a documentary photographer based in Istanbul who has been taking pictures since his teenage years. To document human interactions and life itself has been the most attractive aspect of photography for him, and with the empathy he has and detail-oriented, precise way of looking at life, he has created many award-winning images.
The photograph we’ve chosen for this month’s edition of ‘Behind the Shot’ is so rich in colour, movement, and emotion, it almost looks like a painting. Here, Murat tells us the story behind it.
“My first real mirrorless experience was in 2015. I used the a7 II for street photography - it was fantastic for fast focusing, sharp images, ISO performance, stabilisation, etc., but I wanted a hardcore field test in extreme conditions.
That’s when I came across the Color Sky 5K paint festival in İzmir by luck on the Internet.
Color Sky 5K is like Holi Fest in India; different purposes, of course, but similar in terms of pumping fruit-based paint powder throughout audiences. I heard a lot about Holi Fest but had never been, so I was not experienced, and we all know experience in a shooting scenario is everything. So, I decided to apply to the event as a photographer but didn’t tell anyone that I am not experienced in such shooting!
On the day, I was concerned because I only had one Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS lens. How could it be possible to protect the camera and lens from a huge amount of paint powder? And would it be possible to use the autofocus system? Manual isn’t viable when the thing happening around you is fast - really fast - with so much dust, you cannot even see clearly. If I had an extreme zoom lens, it would be easy - you could sit in a place and watch to shoot – but as a documentarist, I want a real test and I like being inside the thing.
When I first plunged into the action, the camera surprised me. I focused on what I wanted to focus on and shot what I wanted to shoot - real precise, sharp shooting. The camera’s focus system did not hesitate, and the camera was still working although every little part of it was exposed to paint powder. At the end of the day, my camera and I were painted like rainbow, but with experience, joy, and many beautiful pictures like this one.”
Camera: a7 II
Lens: Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS
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