Talk
A Road Story
Engin Özendes & Ali Borovalı & Cem Turgay
21 January 2020 / 18.30
At the 180th anniversary of the invention of photography and the first photography trip that took place in 1839, A Road Story: 180 Years of Photography exhibition brings together interpretations and perspectives of photographers who explore the same route with today’s techniques.
For the first talk of the exhibition, curator Engin Özendes will be in conversation with Ali Borovalı and Cem Turgay. As part of the exhibition Ali Borovalı photographed Paros, Naxos and Santorini with a realist but a simplistic approach, meanwhile Cem Turgay photographed İzmir with a critical yet experimental style.
Free admissions, drop in. This event will take place in the exhibition gallery. The talk will be in Turkish.
About Engin Özendes
Özendes began her research on the history of Turkish photography in 1974. Her articles were published in numerous local and foreign newspapers, magazines and encyclopedias. She was a member of many selection committees, delivered lectures and created TV programs.
She worked as the editor-in-chief of Yeni Fotoğraf magazine from 1976 until 1981, the editor-in-chief and owner of Türk Fotoğraf Yıllığı 1978 until 1980, and publication advisor of Photo GLOBE magazine in 1994. In 1987, she published her first book Photography in the Ottoman Empire 1839-1919 from Haşet Publishers. This was followed by fourteen books on the history and contemporary era of Turkish photography. In 1989, she edited the special supplement titled “150. Anniversary of Photography” for Hürriyet Gösteri magazine.
For her studies on photography, she was granted the Excellence Fiap (ESFIAP) distinction by Fédération Internationale de L’Art Photographique (FIAP) in 1990.
She opened nearly seventy exhibitions in Turkey and abroad. She edited 36 books for these exhibitions. From 2004 until 2012, she worked as the curator of Photo Exhibitions at the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art. Since 2017, she has served as curator of Mysia Photography Museum at Nilufer Municipality, and also continued her independent work.
She became a Member of IFSAK (Istanbul Photography and Cinema Amateurs Association) in 2016, and Honorary Member of BUFSAD (Bursa Photographic Art Association) in 2017. In December 2019, she received the Photography Award of the Year from IFSAK.
About Ali Borovalı
Ali Borovalı was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1958. He studied economics and finance with a BA degree in Boğaziçi University, Istanbul and an MBA degree in Florida Atlantic University, USA where he also received his education on photography. Following an early career in finance throughout the 1980s, it was natural for him to take off his tie and revert to his childhood dream, the photographic journey. A very first film inserted in his first camera in junior school years, then a much sought-after Olympus Pen (1968), brought him his first award, photo of the week in a national newspaper, along with a lifelong passion to pursue achievements in photography.
About Cem Turgay
Turgay was born in 1962. He graduated from London Croydon Technical College. He participated in many exhibitions and was awarded the Yunus Nadi Photography Award in 1993 and 2010, and the Pamukbank Photography Award in 1998 and 1999. Turgay, who prefers the gloomy weather for his black and white photographs, expresses himself as “the light hitter, the light hunter that sets the trap for the darkness”.