In February 2007, the Leica Camera Group opened the new Leica Gallery in Istanbul in co-operation with Istanbul Fotograf Merkezi (IFM), founded by Mehmet Kismet, and Panatel Pazarlama, A.S., the official Leica agent in Turkey. The gallery is situated in the heart of Istanbul and, since it was first set up in 2003, has been a prestigious location for everything to do with photography. The Leica Gallery Istanbul exhibits the work of Leica photographers and promotes new photographic talent selected in conjunction with Leica. The opening exhibition was a show by Sebastião Salgado.

Current exhibition "Underwater World"

The world scenes that we can not see with daily ordinary glances of ours, aerial photos taken from bird's eye, photos of the small worlds shot at a macro or micro level that we can not see with normal glance have always been amazing. However, the photo's being amazing is surely not sufficient for it to bear artistic value. If the harmony or disharmony of the composition, shades, stains and piles moves our emotions by combining with the sense of the photograph, prodding us profoundly somewhat, than it means the photographer is reaching his aim.

The photograph actually does not depict what we see but what the photographer wants to show and therefore the photographer has a language and a style.

The first exhibition of Saygun Dura, "Benim Gerçeğim" - "My Reflected Reality" was transferring us the inner world, the dreams of the photographer with a great mastery and finesse.

Saygun Dura's theme this time relates us a world that most of us, almost none of us will have the chance to see, a world under the sea and water.

If the exhibition when we see it in its entirety amazes us with the aspects and creatures of this deep realm that we have not seen, we can say that the photographer has succeeded in his theme as a "documentary". However this success can fail to satisfy the photographer who wants to narrate us his feelings.

Just at this point, Saygun Dura's photographs transfers us their colours, frames, the feelings of him and of the underwater world with a great mastery and finesse again by being above a documentary.

 

Annual program: Leica Gallery in Istanbul

Datum:	Fotograf:	Ausstellungsthema:
21.01.2010 - 20.02.2010	Bülent Özgören, Erhan Bayladi, Loris Medici, Mehmet Kismet und Orhan Yayla	Five Master / Five Studios

Leica Gallery in Istanbul

Istanbul Fotograf Merkezi
Tarlabasi Bulvari No 272
34435 Beyoglu
Istanbul

Opening hours:
Tuesday - Saturday 11.00 am - 07.00 pm