Labor and Solidarity Day  Istanbul May 1, 1976

"An Earth in the middle of open hands, and flowers pouring down over it to the ground". In April of 1976, the walls were covered with these posters announcing how DISK (Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions of Turkey) would celebrate May 1st as Labor Day. It was important to celebrate May 1st as Labor Day after many years. The Law of Tranquility, enacted in 1925 by the government, prohibited celebrating Labor Day, and this ban remained in effect for many years. I went to Istanbul to photograph such a historical momentous occasion. Since the DISK administration would walk from Besiktas, I began working at the top of Inonu Football Stadium and continued at Taksim Square. This celebration, which was held at a time when a right-wing government was in power, was a democratic achievement. Although it was feared, it was a celebration with broad participation and there was no sad event.