Appearances As We See Them A Selection of Turkish Photography since the Founding of the Republic

In the exhibition “Appearances As We See Them”, Istanbul Modern Photography Gallery presented a wide selection of the post-Republican adventure of Turkish photography, free of chronological constraints.

After the foundation of the Republic, photographers in Turkey took on the tremendous task of introducing their new country to the world. They faithfully documented the new government’s industrial projects, cities and rural areas while portraying Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first president of the young Republic. In the 1940s, while pursuing the documentary aspect of photography necessary at the time, they started to struggle for recognition of their medium as an art form. By the 1960s, it had become common practice for photographers to travel throughout Turkey using their camera to record each step of their journey. Towards the mid-1970s, a number of innovative photographers instigated a trend towards experimental image-making, and through their distinctive creative expression attained a new visual language.

The exhibition brought together experimental works that capture directly what the eye sees, that are the products of a realist approach which picks and chooses while looking through the lens, that are produced in the darkroom or using digital technologies to arrive at brand new images. The exhibition aimed to showcase diverse images of Turkey’s landscape, culture, approach to art, and life experiences.

Artists: Ersin Alok, Coşun Aral, Cengiz Akduman, Arif Aşçı, Tahsin Aydoğmuş, Ahmet Elhan, Kamil Fırat, Nevzat Çakır, Orhan Cem Çetin, İsa Çelik, Manuel Çıtak, Gültekin Çizgen, Ahmet Öner Gezgin, Burhan Doğançay, Şakir Eczacıbaşı, Nusret Nurdan Eren, Baha Gelenbevi, Salahattin Giz, Sami Güner, Ara Güler, Namık Görgüç, Şemsi Güner, Mustafa Kapkın, Yılmaz Kaini, Sabit Kalfagil, Mehmet Kısmet, Sinan Koçaslan, Sıtkı Kösemen, Şahin Kaygun, Cengiz Karlıova, İzzet Keribar, İbrahim Zaman, Paul Mcmillen, Bülent Özgören, Lütfi Özkök, Othmar Pferschy, Ozan Sağdıç, Gökşin Sipahioğlu, Etem Tem, Yusuf Tuvi, Cem Turgay, Cafer Türkmen, M. Atilla Torunoğlu, Abdülgani Sanih Sarıdal

Curator: Engin Özendes