Ara Gular and Istanbul

There are a number of locations that are on my list of places to photograph. High on the agenda is Istanbul, the busiest and most populated city in Turkey. As with so many iconic locations, the best photos may have already been taken. With this in mind, I want to take a look at the work of Ara Gular.

Ara Gular

Ara Gular passed away on October 17th, 2018. He was 90 years old.  Ara’s career started when he worked for a Turkish newspaper, Yeni. Good fortune came when Time-Life opened a branch in Istanbul. Later his work was recognised by one of my favourite photographers of all time, Marc Riboud (so he must have been good), and also by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Bresson was one of Magnum Photography’s founders. Ara Gular did join Magnum, although he later resigned.

Preservation

Gular’s work is widely viewed by photographers as including some of the greatest images of Istanbul. The city is rapidly changing, and his iconic images preserve a life that is no more. His abilities earned him the title, ‘Eye of Istanbul’, although he preferred the phrase ‘Photographer of Istanbul’.

His Work

Although Gular is best known for his black and white images, it is the colour photos that I find the most inspiriting. His photos capture buildings, roads, waterways, mosques and other landmarks. However, it is the images of those that lived there, of people going about their everyday lives, that speak to me the most.

During his life, Gular captured portraits of a number of famous celebrities. These included Winston Churchill, Ghandi, Picasso and Ansel Adams. 

As always, if you want to find out more about this incredible artist, then Google is your friend.

Thats all for today folks. 

Keep clicking, Chris.