}

A Road Story

180 Years of Photography

December 5, 2019 - March 1, 2020

At the 180th anniversary of invention of photography and the first photography trip that took place in 1839, A Road Story: 180 Years of Photography exhibition brought together interpretations and perspectives of photographers who explored the same route with today’s techniques.

French painter Émile Jean Horace Vernet, painter Charles Marie Bouton who is among the inventors of Diorama technique, and daguerreotypist Frédéric Auguste Antoine Goupil-Fesquet depart from the Port of Marseille in October 1839 to take photographs and return to Marseille six months later, in April 1840 passing from Livorno, Malta, Syros, Paros, Naxos, Santorini, Alexandria, Cairo, Luxor, Suez, Mount Sinai, Gaza, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nablus, Sayda, Deir Al Qamar, Damascus, Tripoli, Baalbek, Beirut, Larnaca, Rhodes, Kos, İzmir, Dardanelles, İstanbul and Rome. 

Frédéric Auguste Antoine Goupil-Fesquet conveyed his impressions about this journey in his book, Voyage d’Horace Vernet en Orient that would be published in 1843.

At the 180th anniversary of this first known group photography trip, the exhibition curated by Engin Özendes featured the artists Coşkun Aral, Laleper Aytek, Ali Borovalı, Murat Germen, Sinan Koçaslan, Yusuf Sevinçli, Alp Sime, Lale Tara, Serkan Taycan and Cem Turgay. The photographs they took during their trips to the stops of the earlier journey reflected a contemporary take on these cities with rich histories.

Exhibition Catalogue

A Road Story

A Road Story

At the 180th anniversary of invention of photography and the first photography trip that took place in 1839, A Road Story: 180 Years of Photography exhibition brings together...

Engin Özendes<br>A Road Story

Engin Özendes
A Road Story

At the 180th anniversary of 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. As part of exhibition, an exhibition tour with the curator Engin Özendes will be organized on January 19, at 19.00.

Engin Özendes<br>A Road Story

Engin Özendes
A Road Story

At the 180th anniversary of 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. As part of exhibition, an exhibition tour with the curator Engin Özendes will be organized on January 19, at 19.00.

A Road Story <br> Engin Özendes & Ali Borovalı & Cem Turgay

A Road Story
Engin Özendes & Ali Borovalı & Cem Turgay

For the first talk of the exhibition, curator Engin Özendes will be in conversation with Ali Borovalı and Cem Turgay.

A Road Story<br>Coşkun Aral & Yekta Kopan

A Road Story
Coşkun Aral & Yekta Kopan

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. The talk featuring Coşkun Aral and Yekta Kopan, which will be organized as part of the exhibition, focuses on Aral's exhibited photographs of Mount Sinai, Gaza, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nablus, Sidon, Deir el-Qamar, Damascus and Tripoli as well as his experiences in those places.

Video

Midnight Horror Stories: Pollens, Photosynthesis & Rock ‘N’ Roll <br> Murat Başekim

Midnight Horror Stories: Pollens, Photosynthesis & Rock ‘N’ Roll
Murat Başekim

Pera Museum Blog is launching a new series of creepy stories in collaboration with Turkey’s Fantasy and Science Fiction Arts Association (FABISAD). The Association’s member writers are presenting newly commissioned short horror stories inspired by the artworks of Mario Prassinos as part of the Museum’s In Pursuit of an Artist: Istanbul-Paris-Istanbul exhibition. The third story is by Murat Başekim! The stories will be published online throughout the exhibition. Stay tuned!

İstanbul: Before & After

İstanbul: Before & After

Selected from the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Photography Collection, we present the landscapes and places in Istanbul photographs, dating from the 1850s to the 1980s, together with their present-day views!

Game of Mangala

Game of Mangala

Three figures in Eastern dress are shown in repose against an exotic landscape, smoking pipes and playing mangala. Inventories of the royal collections from 1739 identify the members of this group as the royal eunuch Matthias and two odalisques.