Photography museum hosts 4 local and foreign artists

Fatih Municipality's Istanbul Photography Museum is offering three different exhibitions that include the works of four local and foreign photographers.

The "İki Gözüm Istanbul" ("Istanbul, My Two Eyes") by photographers Sadık Üçok and Ralf J. Diemb, "Gri Dünya ("Grey World") by Romın Mohtasham and Stanley Shoemaker's "Uyanıkken Görülen Rüyalar" ("Dreams Seen Awake") exhibitions are now welcoming visitors. The triple exhibition will be open until Dec. 20.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, which Fatih Mayor Hasan Suver attended, Deputy Mayor Necati Selvi noted that Hasan Suver has been working to further expand the scope of the Istanbul Photography Museum and that they will continue to do good work under the leadership of Mayor Hasan Suver. Selvi also thanked the artists for honoring the photography museum with their work.

The opening ceremony continued with speeches from the photographers. Then, art lovers were able to visit the exhibition.

'Subject of our exhibition is Istanbul'

Explaining the subject of the photographs in the exhibition, Üçok noted that the photographs are about Istanbul. "Not just in terms of architecture or view but also about daily life in Istanbul. All the photographs in the exhibition have a human side; therefore, our subject is the social life of Istanbul. We are trying to show this life," Üçok said.

Photographers Sadık Üçok and Ralf J. Diemb's coproduction, the exhibition "Istanbul, My Two Eyes," displays the point of views of two eyes from two different cultures through Istanbul's streets, squares and people by bringing together moments to be passed onto the future. The photographers pursuing these moments in the street become masters in time; they memorize where the light will fall at a certain hour and click the shutter at the best angle and in the best light to capture the moment. This may not be enough sometimes. The cultural structure, how the photographer views the world and aesthetic consciousness of the photographer distilled overtime comes into play here, as well. As the photographer becomes more skilled, their photographs also become better and their name is recognized by audiences. Sadık Üçok and Ralph J. Diemb have combined their photographic journeys, sometimes together and sometimes alone, in a co-exhibition in Germany. The Istanbul Photography Museum is hosting this co-exhibition of Sadık Üçok ad Ralph J. Diemb in Istanbul for the first time.

'Grey World' exhibition

Iranian photographer Romin Mohtasham offers a poetic, daunting narrative and even humor in his documentary-style photographs. His narrative style may be categorized as magical realism. This style leaves the viewer hanging between reality and imagination. His simple compositions and elements reflect his own point of view. The viewers may capture the meaning in deep layers and associate it with the simple surface of the photographs. The surroundings of Urmiye Lake in Iran are shown in the photos. Now Urmiye Lake is on the verge of drying up due to neglect and the mismanagement of water resources. The photographs at the exhibition are selected from the book by the artist, titled "Senin Gerçeğin Bitmiştir" ("Your Reality is Finished") (2015) and "Boş Cam" ("Empty Glass") (2017).

'Dreams Seen Awake' exhibition

The manipulated photographs of Mexican photographer Stanley Shoemaker show us how he perceives the world. The artist defines this as: "A state of abnormal consciousness where experiences and hallucinations like dreams take place while awake." While Shoemaker conveys the world he establishes through images, he also questions the meaning of photography in today's world, consumer society and works of art in art history. The images in the photographic world he established aim to create a new perception of communication by showing reality and the visual production area under the control of the artist. The artist, who believes that the interaction between the work and the viewers directly depends on the expression method of the artist, aims to create a new communication channel with his conceptual photographs. Shoemaker often quotes Spanish photographer Joan Fontcuberta to describe his work, "Photography is a fiction with the claim of truth." Shoemaker remarks, "We are living a parallel reality in locations and scenarios with our own mobile devices in the social networks, where an alternative world is emphasized, millions of photographs are shared, where various adventures, claims and social status are connected to a fiction visuality. The artist asks the audience the following question with his works: 'How much of what we see is real?'" The first exhibition of Shoemaker in Turkey, "Dreams Seen Awake," will be held at Fatih Municipality's Istanbul Photography Museum.