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ARA GULER'S 'ANATOLIA' CAPTURES A DISAPPEARING PAST
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
July 16 2014
Hilal ÝþlerWASHINGTON
This is the last week to catch Ara Guler's never-before-seen works, on
display at the Smithsonian in Washington DC since the end of last year
Ara Guler is known as one of Turkey's most prominent photojournalist
and since Dec. 21 last year his never-before-seen works have been
on display at the Smithsonian, in Washington D.C. "In Focus: Ara
Guler's Anatolia" looks at Seljuk, Armenian, and Ottoman monuments
of the Turkish heartland through Guler's lens, and draws to a close
on July 20.
The photographs, all taken in the 1960s, consider Turkey beyond the
boundaries of Istanbul. In them, Guler looks east to the forgotten,
dusty corners of Anatolia; its abandoned churches, and mosques in
disrepair. It's an area that has long held the photographer's interest.
"Ara Guler started his photojournalism career in the early 1950s in
local Turkish newspapers," explains Zeynep Simavi, who helped curate
the exhibit. "He's mostly known for his photographs of Istanbul,
and for his artist-portraits. But even in the 50s and 60s he was
traveling extensively throughout Anatolia and photographing these
monuments. In fact, he has said that he thinks his most important
contributions are things like photographs of the Nemrut Mountain,
or his 'rediscovery' of Aphrodisias."
Simavi says close to 115,000 people have visited the Smithsonian's
Sackler Gallery during the Guler show, which is now enjoying an
extended run. The exhibition was originally scheduled to end in May.
"Many people who visit and who haven't heard of Guler are surprised
and inspired by the works that he has taken here," says Allison Peck,
a Smithsonian official. "A lot of people in the Turkish and Turkish
American communities especially are hearing about the show and making
a special effort to visit."
Guler's body of work is said to include over 800,000 photographs. The
21 that constitute "In Focus" were gifted to the Smithsonian by Raymond
Hare, a former American Ambassador to Turkey. The photographs honor
Hare's interest in Turkish architecture, and were given to him by
colleagues as he prepared, in 1965, to leave his Ankara-post.
In addition to the black-and-white images, "In Focus" includes the
short documentary, "Ara Guler: A Lifetime Achievement." The video
plays on loop, and features Guler's own thoughts on his career. "I'm
a Turkish photographer," Guler says in the film, speaking in French.
"Actually, I'm a press photographer. Photography being a visual medium,
we press photographers to record the visual history of time. I find
that more crucial than creating art, for humanity learns from its
history."
Guler identifies strongly as a photojournalist, but the exhibit
encourages visitors to question this and to ask whether his work is,
in fact, art.
"He has said many times, 'I'm not a photographer, I'm a
photojournalist. It's one of the distinctions he makes," says Simavi.
"I think he places a lot of emphasis, and a lot of importance, on that
aspect of his work. There's this duty, this responsibility he feels
to carry a message. It's a social responsibility, to tell the public
what's going on. He's there, witnessing an event for them. I think he
very much believes in the objective value of what he is doing. He's
not manipulating events. He doesn't have any control over them. He's
just there as an eye. He's been doing that all his life. So, there's
a larger purpose to his photographs, always."
Guler, who turns 86 next month, was a student of economics at Istanbul
University when he accepted his first photojournalism assignment. He
would later become head of photography at the now-defunct Hayat
magazine, and would go on to publish internationally for Paris Match,
Time, Life, and Stern magazines, among others. Today, he continues
to work in Istanbul, and, earlier this month, received an honorary
doctorate at Boðazici University.
For more on the exhibit, visit the Smithsonian online.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ara-gulers-anatolia-captures-a-disappearing-past.aspx?PageID=238&NID=69144&NewsCatID=385
From: A. Papazian
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
July 16 2014
Hilal ÝþlerWASHINGTON
This is the last week to catch Ara Guler's never-before-seen works, on
display at the Smithsonian in Washington DC since the end of last year
Ara Guler is known as one of Turkey's most prominent photojournalist
and since Dec. 21 last year his never-before-seen works have been
on display at the Smithsonian, in Washington D.C. "In Focus: Ara
Guler's Anatolia" looks at Seljuk, Armenian, and Ottoman monuments
of the Turkish heartland through Guler's lens, and draws to a close
on July 20.
The photographs, all taken in the 1960s, consider Turkey beyond the
boundaries of Istanbul. In them, Guler looks east to the forgotten,
dusty corners of Anatolia; its abandoned churches, and mosques in
disrepair. It's an area that has long held the photographer's interest.
"Ara Guler started his photojournalism career in the early 1950s in
local Turkish newspapers," explains Zeynep Simavi, who helped curate
the exhibit. "He's mostly known for his photographs of Istanbul,
and for his artist-portraits. But even in the 50s and 60s he was
traveling extensively throughout Anatolia and photographing these
monuments. In fact, he has said that he thinks his most important
contributions are things like photographs of the Nemrut Mountain,
or his 'rediscovery' of Aphrodisias."
Simavi says close to 115,000 people have visited the Smithsonian's
Sackler Gallery during the Guler show, which is now enjoying an
extended run. The exhibition was originally scheduled to end in May.
"Many people who visit and who haven't heard of Guler are surprised
and inspired by the works that he has taken here," says Allison Peck,
a Smithsonian official. "A lot of people in the Turkish and Turkish
American communities especially are hearing about the show and making
a special effort to visit."
Guler's body of work is said to include over 800,000 photographs. The
21 that constitute "In Focus" were gifted to the Smithsonian by Raymond
Hare, a former American Ambassador to Turkey. The photographs honor
Hare's interest in Turkish architecture, and were given to him by
colleagues as he prepared, in 1965, to leave his Ankara-post.
In addition to the black-and-white images, "In Focus" includes the
short documentary, "Ara Guler: A Lifetime Achievement." The video
plays on loop, and features Guler's own thoughts on his career. "I'm
a Turkish photographer," Guler says in the film, speaking in French.
"Actually, I'm a press photographer. Photography being a visual medium,
we press photographers to record the visual history of time. I find
that more crucial than creating art, for humanity learns from its
history."
Guler identifies strongly as a photojournalist, but the exhibit
encourages visitors to question this and to ask whether his work is,
in fact, art.
"He has said many times, 'I'm not a photographer, I'm a
photojournalist. It's one of the distinctions he makes," says Simavi.
"I think he places a lot of emphasis, and a lot of importance, on that
aspect of his work. There's this duty, this responsibility he feels
to carry a message. It's a social responsibility, to tell the public
what's going on. He's there, witnessing an event for them. I think he
very much believes in the objective value of what he is doing. He's
not manipulating events. He doesn't have any control over them. He's
just there as an eye. He's been doing that all his life. So, there's
a larger purpose to his photographs, always."
Guler, who turns 86 next month, was a student of economics at Istanbul
University when he accepted his first photojournalism assignment. He
would later become head of photography at the now-defunct Hayat
magazine, and would go on to publish internationally for Paris Match,
Time, Life, and Stern magazines, among others. Today, he continues
to work in Istanbul, and, earlier this month, received an honorary
doctorate at Boðazici University.
For more on the exhibit, visit the Smithsonian online.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ara-gulers-anatolia-captures-a-disappearing-past.aspx?PageID=238&NID=69144&NewsCatID=385
From: A. Papazian