The street painters, who work across the mosque at the Hisarönü Çarşı, receive great interest from the tourists who want to return to their country with a different souvenir. While some tourists have their pictures or caricatures drawn, the others admiringly watch the talented painters.

Sezer Dönmez, one of the caricaturists who drew the caricatures of Katie Swift and Kenny Perrin who came from Liverpool on a holiday, explained why he chose street painting as a profession in our short interview.

The crowd gathered in front of the caricatures of Katie Swift and Kenny Perrin tried to intervene in the painter’s work at first thinking that he was ruining the caricature, but the confusion left its place to admiration with the completion of the caricature. Katie Swift and Kenny Perrin tried to figure out the caricature by analyzing people’s gestures and even left their places to take a look at their caricature. When the painter finished his job, you could tell by the smiles on tourists’ faces that it is a good job. This is how Katie Swift and Kenny Perrin expressed their views about their holiday in Ölüdeniz: We loved Ölüdeniz. The beach is superb. Hisarönü was great, everyone was lovely. Think we will definitely be returning.” 

Sezer Dönmez is a unique street painter. He has drawn for some of the most important caricature magazines of Turkey, like Gırgır and Fırt and has chosen to lead a bohemian lifestyle by being a street painter in the streets of Hisarönü starting from the 90’s. Dönmez says, ’It is different to lead a life where anything can happen at any time. Street painting is a good choice in that it gives me more time to do what I want and read more books. I am interested in philosophy. I have to take care of my family so I work during summer, but I have a lot of time during winter since I don’t work. I’m also more close to the people with this kind of work and this is a more pleasant feeling.”

Dönmez also told us two of his unforgettable memories while working: ’I once drew the picture of an old man, but I also drew a young woman beside him. I remember that the man’s wife had scolded me really bad. Also once I added a television to the caricature I had drawn. There, the couple who were subjects of the caricature old me off about why the TV was b&w and not color.”