Ara Güler - Black & White

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• published: 13 Feb 2009
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CLASSIC PHOTOS.. Music:Nightwish-sleeping Sun Ara Güler was born in Istanbul in 1928. During his high school times, Güler worked in movie studios and attended drama courses which were held by Muhsin Ertuğrul, the founder of modern Turkish theater. However he abandoned cinema in favor of journalism and started working at Yeni Istanbul newspaper as a photo journalist in 1950 when he studied economics at Istanbul University. He then transferred to Hürriyet newspaper. In 1958 Güler served as a correspondent for the Near East in the magazines such as Time-Life, Paris-Match, Der Stern and Sunday Times. In 1953 he met Henri Cartier Bresson and participated in Paris Magnum Agency. Güler was recognized in the Photography Annual Anthology as one of the best 7 photographers in the world. In the same year he was accepted as the only Turkish member to the ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers). In 1954 he began working as a chief of photographic Department at the Hayat Magazine. After completing his military service in 1961, he was employed by the Hayat Magazine as a head of the photographic Department. In 1962 Güler won the title of Master of Leica in Germany. The Swiss magazine Camera honored Güler with a special issue. In 1964 his photographs were used for works of Mariana Noris, which was published in Young Turkey in the US. In 1967 he published a series of photographs with Richard Avedon in the Photography of the World anthology in Japan. In the same year, Güler exhibited his photographs in the exhibition of Peoples view of the world in Canada (1967); 10 masters of color photography at the New York Museum of Modern Art (1968); and Fotokina fair in Cologne in Germany (1968). Güler published a photograph album Türkei in Germany in 1970. His photographs on art and art history were used in magazines such as Time-Life, Horizon and Newsweek books in the US; and used by Skira Publishing House in Switzerland. In 1971 He shot for a book Hagia Sophia which was published by Lord Kinross. He also interviewed with Picasso and took his photographs for the book Picasso Metamorphose et unite, which was published by Skira Publishing House on the occasion of Picassos 90th birthday. That exhibition was held in Paris National Bookstore in 1972. In 1975 Güler was invited to America and took many famous Americans photographs. Later he had an exhibition entitled Creative Americans in all over the world. In the same year, he shot a documentary film entitled The End of the Hero, based on a fictional account of the dismantling of the World War I veteran battle cruiser TCG Yavuz. In 1979 he received the first prize in the section of photo journalist of Turkish Journalist Society. In 1980 a part of his photographs were published in the book of Photographs by Karacan Publish House. In 1986 Güler took photographs for the book Mimar Sinan, which was written by Prof. Dr. Abdullah Kuran and published by Hürriyet Foundation. In 1987 it was published in English by Institute of Turkish Studies. The book Ara Gülerin Sinemaciları was published in 1989. In 1991 Güler took photographs for the book The Sixth Continent on Halikanas Fishermen (Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı) for the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Güler traveled all over the world and made photo interviews. He shared them with Magnum Agency and put them in the world. He interviewed with famous people as: İsmet İnönü, Winston Churchill, Indira Gandi, John Berger, Bertrand Rusell, Bill Brandt, Alfred Hitchcock, Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso, and took their photographs. In 1992 his work on the architecture of Mimar Sinan was published as Sinan, Architect of Suleiman the Magnificent in the US and France. In the same year his book Living Turkey was also published in England and the US; and in Singapore as the title of Turkish Style; and in France as the title of Demeures Ottomanes de Turquie. Güler has an 800.000 piece photographic slide archives. Most of these photographs are in museums and libraries abroad such as the National Library of France in Paris, the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York, University of Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Museum Ludwig Köln and Das imaginare Photo Museum Köln. Güler attaches the greatest importance to human presence in his photographs and describes himself as a "visual historian". References: turkishculture.org