Four men and a nargile pipe in a coffeehouse

Four men are sitting in a kahvehane, all dressed in coats and flat caps. Three of them are sitting on a bench facing towards the camera, a fourth is sitting around the corner on the left margin of the picture and is seen in profile. He is wearing a dark kalpak and is holding a cup of coffee in his left hand and a saucer in his right. The bearded man on the opposite end of the bench is smoking a nargile that is placed on a small wooden table with a marble top. On the bench between the two, a man holding a cigarette in his hand looks directly into the camera. Sitting close to him, a fourth man with his hands resting on his upper legs has turned his head towards his neighbour’s cigarette. Firewood is piled up underneath the bench on which the man smoking the nargile is sitting. Behind is a wooden wall and a damaged decorative textile band. The wallpaper above is in a poor state. A coat hook, a framed picture and an electrical installation are fastened on the wall. A stove with tongs placed on top stands in the lower left corner of the photograph.The picture appeard in the newspaper Yeni Gün on 26 January 1931 as part of a series with the title, ‘İstanbul'un Köşe, Bucağı’ (Corners and nooks of Istanbul), authored by Osman Cemal (Kaygılı). The accompanying article presented the urban characteristics and some features of daily life in the Karagümrük neighbourhood, and introduced readers to several local shopkeepers. According to the article, the photograph shows one of several coffeehouses kahvehane that are often frequented by milkmen