Çay

“Vertical photograph at windowsill level, 50mm lens, late afternoon sun. An old apartment in Kadıköy, Istanbul: a wide marble windowsill, faded turquoise wooden shutters open, the Bosphorus and a ferry hazy in the distance. A large grey tabby street cat with a torn left ear and a scarred nose sits on the sill staring deadpan straight into the lens, one front paw resting against a full tulip-shaped glass of dark red tea on a small saucer near the edge, a sugar cube beside it. At the edge of frame an older man's hand in a brown cardigan cuff with a gold wedding ring reaches toward the glass. Palette: tea amber, tabby grey, turquoise. Real fur, dust in the sunbeam, steam from the tea. No readable text, no logos.

“Holding eye contact with the camera, the cat slowly pushes the tulip glass of tea along the marble sill with one paw until it tips over the edge and falls out of frame; the man's hand grabs at it a moment too late. The cat keeps staring at the lens, then calmly pushes the sugar cube off the edge too. Static camera. One continuous shot, no cuts. Sound: a ferry horn far away, the glass shattering below, an old man groaning. No text, no logos, no labels, nothing printed anywhere.