Istanbul Modern traces the change that Istanbul has experienced since the 1950s through the eyes of Ara Güler, with the exhibition organized in cooperation with Ara Güler Museum and Ara Güler Archive and Research Center.
The exhibition titled “Two Archives, One Selection: Istanbul in the Footsteps of Ara Güler” can be seen between 29 May - 17 November 2019.
The first solo exhibition of Ara Güler, who "wrote history with his machine", at Istanbul Modern meets the audience. The exhibition, which was held in collaboration with Istanbul Modern and Ara Güler Museum and emerged from the collections and archives of the two institutions, reveals the change that the city has experienced since the mid-20th century. It makes visible the role of Ara Güler's photographs in the formation of the collective memory that emerged as a result of this change.
Each bears his signature
Ara Güler's works, printed in different periods and bearing his signature, are accompanied by various darkroom prints, objects and ephemera in the archives of the Istanbul Modern Photography Collection and Ara Güler Museum, as well as mappings showing the districts and angles where the photographs were taken. The exhibition aims to make you think about the relationship between the subjectivity of the photographer and photography through the works of Güler, who defines himself as a photojournalist and photojournalists as "those who write history with their cameras".
Combining Ara Güler's photographs that invite us to look at them again and again with archival materials, "Two Archives, One Selection" reminds the audience of both Güler's production practice and his share in creating the Istanbul consciousness in our minds.
The exhibition, curated by Istanbul Modern Photography Department Manager Demet Yıldız and advised by Ara Güler Archive and Research Center Director Umut Sülün, can be seen until November 17. Various talks and programs on the city and collective memory will be held during the exhibition.
Great interest in the opening
The opening of the exhibition “Two Archives, One Selection: Istanbul in the Footsteps of Ara Güler” attracted great attention from the art and business world.
Making a speech at the opening, Istanbul Modern Chairman of the Board of Directors Oya Eczacıbaşı said:
"Ara Güler, the most important representative of Turkish photography in the international arena, donated 52 of his photographs to our collection in 2004, when our museum was established and our photography department was opened. This donation was very important and meaningful for our newly established Istanbul Modern Photography Department. This donation received by our Photography Department was very important and meaningful. We are happy to present these photographs of Ara Güler in our collection to our audience after many years with a personal exhibition. His works, especially focusing on Istanbul, his signature darkroom prints, "As an Istanbul lover, we present to the audience the changing face of the districts that Ara Güler traveled and recorded through the mapping in the exhibition, and we will all remember the Istanbul of the past by looking at these maps."
Who is Ara Güler, who wrote history with his camera?
Ara Güler, the most internationally renowned representative of creative photography in Türkiye, was born in Istanbul in 1928.
Güler, who was greatly influenced by cinema during his childhood, worked in every branch of cinema in film studios while he was in high school. After graduating from Getronagan High School in 1951, he began to study theater and acting under Muhsin Ertuğrul. Güler, who wanted to be a director or playwright, had his stories published in some literary magazines and Armenian newspapers during these years. After high school education, he continued at Istanbul University Faculty of Economics. However, because he decided to become a photojournalist, he dropped out of university and completed his military service.
He started his journalism career in Yeni İstanbul newspaper in 1950. He worked as a Near East photojournalist for Time Life in 1956, Paris Match and Stern magazines in 1958. Around the same time, Magnum Photos began distributing its photographs internationally. He made the Noah's Ark photo-interview and these photographs were distributed to over 100 publications by Magnum Photos. Also in these years, he made a photo-interview of Mount Nemrut and the whole world got to know Mount Nemrut through his photographs. With another important photo-interview, Aphrodisias, he enabled this forgotten city to be rediscovered and known worldwide. He worked as the photography department chief at Hayat magazine from 1956 to 1961. The British Journal of Photography Year Book, published in England in 1961, identified him as one of the seven best photographers in the world. In the same year, he was accepted to the American Society of Magazine Photographers (ASMP) and became the only member of this organization from Turkey. In 1962 he won the title of Master of Leica in Germany. In the same year, Camera magazine, the most important publication of the photography world at that time, published a special issue about him. His works were exhibited at the Perspectives on the World of People exhibition opened in Canada in 1967 and at the Photokina Fair in Cologne in 1968. He took photographs of Lord Kinross' book Hagia-Sophia, published in 1971.
His was the cover photograph of the English, French and German editions of the book Picasso: Métamorphose et Unité, prepared by Skira Publishing House for Picasso's 90th birthday. In 1974, he was invited to the United States and after taking photographs of many famous Americans, he exhibited his exhibition "Creative Americans" in many cities around the world. In the same year, he shot a documentary film called The End of the Hero, about the dismantling of the battleship Yavuz. His photographs on art and art history were used in their publications by Time Life, Horizon, Newsweek and Skira Publishing House. Starting from 1989, he participated in the "Day and the Life of..." project and worked with the world's most famous photographers in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The photographs of Mimar Sinan's works, which he worked on for years, were published by Editions Arthaud in France and Thames & Hudson Publishing Houses in the USA and England in 1992; Sinan was published under the name Architect of Süleyman the Magnificent. In the same year, his book Living in Turkey was published by Thames & Hudson in England and the USA, by Archipelago Press in Singapore under the name Turkish Style, and by Albin Michel publishing house under the name Demeures Ottomanes de Turquie in France.
Légion D'Honneur by the French government in 2002; Officier des Arts et des Lettres was awarded the title of La Médaille de la Ville de Paris by the Municipality of Paris in 2009. He was awarded the Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Prize of the Republic of Turkey in 2005, the Culture and Arts Service Award of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey in 2008, the Distinguished Service Award of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 2009, the Lucie Awards Lifetime Honor Award in the USA in 2009, and the Culture and Arts Grand Prize of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey in 2011. He received the title of "Honorary Doctorate" from Yıldız Technical University in 2004, from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2013, and from Boğaziçi University in 2014.
Ara Güler, who opened hundreds of exhibitions all over the world and published dozens of books, photographed and conducted photo-interviews with many famous people, from Bertrand Russell to Winston Churchill, from Arnold Toynbee to Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí.
Ara Güler Museum and Ara Güler Archive and Research Center, which were established within the framework of Doğuş Group's cooperation with Ara Güler, were opened to visitors on August 16, 2018, Ara Güler's 90th birthday.
Ara Güler passed away on October 17, 2018, at the age of 90.
