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TURKISH-ARMENIAN PHOTOGRAPHER ARA GuLER: ISTANBUL, MY LOVE
National Turk, Turkey
Oct 15 2014
/ Artistry News
Ara Guler is Turkey's most famous photographer. His pictures show
a Istanbul, which no longer exists. Meanwhile he can the city ever
suffer less, but a few corners he loves it. Traveled with a legend.
In the dream Ara Guler traveled into the past. Not in the his beloved
Istanbul fifties, where he moved as a young guy around the houses and
street scenes, workers and over the Bosphorus photographed images that
would make him famous worldwide. But even further back. "I dream that
I'm 1453 in Constantine Opel, the only person with a camera. Ottomans
conquer the city, and I see to it that the world has a picture of
this important event. Photographs are important for collective memory."
Ara Guler, the photojournalist. He may not be called a photographer,
let alone artists. "I'm a journalist, a reporter." In August he became
86 years old. After a serious kidney disease he is halfway back on
his feet. He was in the ICU, and because many believed him dead,
he made a Selfie and sent it to the world via Twitter.
Fotograph/ Ara Guler Istanbul Karakoy Bridge
More than 60 years Ara Guler has photographed, Konrad Adenauer, Indira
Gandhi, Alfred Hitchcock, long time for the famous Magnum agency.
Pablo Picasso has painted a picture out of gratitude to him, it now
hangs in a corner of Gulers office, between photos, postcards and
note papers. His life's work - negatives and slides - is crated in
the floors above the Ara Café in Istanbul.
Ara Guler:"How much people want to buy it ?"
But most and most often he has photographed his beloved native city,
especially in the fifties. To date, he takes pictures of Istanbul, but
increasingly rare and more recently digital. The city has experienced
in recent years a boom, the Guler "a development for the ugly" calls.
"Everywhere streets and shopping malls People have only consumption,
consumption, consumption in mind There are terrible malls that are
so large. that you can spend all day in it. How much want to shop
the people then? "
Its Istanbul, the Istanbul of ordinary people. That the workers
squatting on the sidewalk and talk animatedly. The fishmongers their
fresh products to market haul. The men playing cards in the teahouse.
In the background are seen often the famous mosques of Istanbul. "They
are beautiful," says Guler. "And I say this even though I'm not
from religion."
He photographed particularly like where there were social tensions,
for minorities, in brothels, in the slums. There are photographs that
shape our image of Istanbul, still also because they show the same
Istanbul, the Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk describes in his books.
The old Istanbul in its beautiful imperfection. Some of these photos
shows starting this Wednesday and until mid-January, the Friends of
Willy-Brandt-Haus in Berlin. "The Eye of Istanbul - Retrospective
1950-2005â~@³ is the exhibition.
Ara Guler is a hero in Turkey
Fotograph / Ara Guler
Where is Istanbul still beautiful? Guler must not think twice. "All
along the water," he says. "Come, I'll show you my favorite place." He
climbs the help of his assistant on the passenger seat of his SUV, it
is a small model, but at least Guler sits high, which is important to
him. The wizard runs it up to the fishing port in Sariyer district. "I
love this place," he says. Fishermen welcome him, a fishmonger gives
him her hand, suddenly Guler is surrounded by students who want to
have their picture taken with him. He is a hero in Turkey.
He now travels through the hills that line the Bosporus. "In these
streets I've pissed as a child," he says and laughs. He loves to
use expletives, in Turkish, from the crudest sort. Sometimes his
assistant looks away in shame. In Gulers eyes you can see then,
that he laughs inwardly.
He does what he wants. This, he stressed, had always been so. "My
father was a pharmacist and wanted me to become a doctor." But Guler
was drawn to the theater people, which his father sold make-up to
the slopes and shrill. Eventually he got a camera, since he takes
pictures. He taught photographing themselves in - and made it to the
world leaders.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan worshiped him, vice versa Guler has not have
a good opinion of the president. "When I get time awarded a prize,
Erdogan has photographed me. He even went to his knees before me."
About Erdogan dealing with critics, with journalists and with the
Gezi protesters he is disappointed.
Guler, the Armenian Turk who prefer to keep distance to the powerful.
Only to Prime Minister Mustafa Bulent Ecevit, a writer and poet,
he maintained a friendship. "A good man," says Guler.
When he enters a café on the banks of the Bosphorus, he is appalled
by a sunscreen that blocks the view of the water. "What's that? You
unlock the beauty of!" Guler complains with the owner. "I'm not
staying here!" He looks for another café.
The city has become too large to him. His Istanbul had a mere one
million inhabitants. "I still remember how this brand has been
exceeded." Now there are 13, 14, maybe even 18 million people. "If
there are too many people and too little space, they lose respect
for each other," says Guler. "You can see it every day on the road."
Nevertheless, he would never want to live anywhere else. At Istanbul,
he loves the diversity, multi-ethnicity, the Bunte. "Here, everyone
finds their place," he says. "Really everyone." That this is so,
Ercan Arslan holds photographically. Arslan is a student Gulers, and
for some years he scans the same places that Guler has held. Arslan
is the Istanbul of today not all that ugly. Eventually there will be a
large exhibition that documents the change. Then the viewer to decide.
http://www.nationalturk.com/en/turkish-armenian-photographer-ara-guler-istanbul-my-love-artistry-news-54899
From: A. Papazian
National Turk, Turkey
Oct 15 2014
/ Artistry News
Ara Guler is Turkey's most famous photographer. His pictures show
a Istanbul, which no longer exists. Meanwhile he can the city ever
suffer less, but a few corners he loves it. Traveled with a legend.
In the dream Ara Guler traveled into the past. Not in the his beloved
Istanbul fifties, where he moved as a young guy around the houses and
street scenes, workers and over the Bosphorus photographed images that
would make him famous worldwide. But even further back. "I dream that
I'm 1453 in Constantine Opel, the only person with a camera. Ottomans
conquer the city, and I see to it that the world has a picture of
this important event. Photographs are important for collective memory."
Ara Guler, the photojournalist. He may not be called a photographer,
let alone artists. "I'm a journalist, a reporter." In August he became
86 years old. After a serious kidney disease he is halfway back on
his feet. He was in the ICU, and because many believed him dead,
he made a Selfie and sent it to the world via Twitter.
Fotograph/ Ara Guler Istanbul Karakoy Bridge
More than 60 years Ara Guler has photographed, Konrad Adenauer, Indira
Gandhi, Alfred Hitchcock, long time for the famous Magnum agency.
Pablo Picasso has painted a picture out of gratitude to him, it now
hangs in a corner of Gulers office, between photos, postcards and
note papers. His life's work - negatives and slides - is crated in
the floors above the Ara Café in Istanbul.
Ara Guler:"How much people want to buy it ?"
But most and most often he has photographed his beloved native city,
especially in the fifties. To date, he takes pictures of Istanbul, but
increasingly rare and more recently digital. The city has experienced
in recent years a boom, the Guler "a development for the ugly" calls.
"Everywhere streets and shopping malls People have only consumption,
consumption, consumption in mind There are terrible malls that are
so large. that you can spend all day in it. How much want to shop
the people then? "
Its Istanbul, the Istanbul of ordinary people. That the workers
squatting on the sidewalk and talk animatedly. The fishmongers their
fresh products to market haul. The men playing cards in the teahouse.
In the background are seen often the famous mosques of Istanbul. "They
are beautiful," says Guler. "And I say this even though I'm not
from religion."
He photographed particularly like where there were social tensions,
for minorities, in brothels, in the slums. There are photographs that
shape our image of Istanbul, still also because they show the same
Istanbul, the Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk describes in his books.
The old Istanbul in its beautiful imperfection. Some of these photos
shows starting this Wednesday and until mid-January, the Friends of
Willy-Brandt-Haus in Berlin. "The Eye of Istanbul - Retrospective
1950-2005â~@³ is the exhibition.
Ara Guler is a hero in Turkey
Fotograph / Ara Guler
Where is Istanbul still beautiful? Guler must not think twice. "All
along the water," he says. "Come, I'll show you my favorite place." He
climbs the help of his assistant on the passenger seat of his SUV, it
is a small model, but at least Guler sits high, which is important to
him. The wizard runs it up to the fishing port in Sariyer district. "I
love this place," he says. Fishermen welcome him, a fishmonger gives
him her hand, suddenly Guler is surrounded by students who want to
have their picture taken with him. He is a hero in Turkey.
He now travels through the hills that line the Bosporus. "In these
streets I've pissed as a child," he says and laughs. He loves to
use expletives, in Turkish, from the crudest sort. Sometimes his
assistant looks away in shame. In Gulers eyes you can see then,
that he laughs inwardly.
He does what he wants. This, he stressed, had always been so. "My
father was a pharmacist and wanted me to become a doctor." But Guler
was drawn to the theater people, which his father sold make-up to
the slopes and shrill. Eventually he got a camera, since he takes
pictures. He taught photographing themselves in - and made it to the
world leaders.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan worshiped him, vice versa Guler has not have
a good opinion of the president. "When I get time awarded a prize,
Erdogan has photographed me. He even went to his knees before me."
About Erdogan dealing with critics, with journalists and with the
Gezi protesters he is disappointed.
Guler, the Armenian Turk who prefer to keep distance to the powerful.
Only to Prime Minister Mustafa Bulent Ecevit, a writer and poet,
he maintained a friendship. "A good man," says Guler.
When he enters a café on the banks of the Bosphorus, he is appalled
by a sunscreen that blocks the view of the water. "What's that? You
unlock the beauty of!" Guler complains with the owner. "I'm not
staying here!" He looks for another café.
The city has become too large to him. His Istanbul had a mere one
million inhabitants. "I still remember how this brand has been
exceeded." Now there are 13, 14, maybe even 18 million people. "If
there are too many people and too little space, they lose respect
for each other," says Guler. "You can see it every day on the road."
Nevertheless, he would never want to live anywhere else. At Istanbul,
he loves the diversity, multi-ethnicity, the Bunte. "Here, everyone
finds their place," he says. "Really everyone." That this is so,
Ercan Arslan holds photographically. Arslan is a student Gulers, and
for some years he scans the same places that Guler has held. Arslan
is the Istanbul of today not all that ugly. Eventually there will be a
large exhibition that documents the change. Then the viewer to decide.
http://www.nationalturk.com/en/turkish-armenian-photographer-ara-guler-istanbul-my-love-artistry-news-54899
From: A. Papazian