The most significant characteristic of the photographers is, they are the witnesses of the era that they belong to. The projects of the photographer are like the memory of the past for the people in the future. We consider and perceive the past with these projects. This is what I do as a documentary photographer. The conception of my photography is to be the witness of my period and carry them to the future through the effect of the light.
When, in my senior year in high school, I showed my art teacher the photographs I took and he asked, "Why don't you display your photographs in an exhibition?" a new door opened before me....From the "Romani" weddings in Tekirdag to Syriac weddings in Southeastren Anatolia, from the Holy Easter Week services at the Orthodox Church in Antakya to nomad shepherds in Aegean mountains, I have made thousands of friends. However, Teacher Mehmet Kabaca, who carried me from one village to the next on the back of his Jawa motorcycle in the 1970s, holds a very special place in my journey as a photographer. It is impossible to count them all. In truth, this book tells their stories.
Stolipinovo is the biggest Roma Neighborhood in Europe and a part of Plovdiv, European Culture Capital in 2019. My documentary photo works in the Stolipinovo Roma neighborhood between 2018 and 2019 were exhibited in Plovdiv University between 22.April and 31.may.2019. My aim was to show that the people living there also had their own stories and to raise awareness in other parts of society.
Cedefop Director James Calleja presented on Monday in Thessaloniki the Cedefop / Photomuseum Prize to Turkish photographer Aydin Cetinbostanoglu for his project "Diary of a village doctor". The 2012/13 winner Aydin Cetinbostanoglu has been chosen by an international jury consisting of Simon Edwards from the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie, Elina Heikka, Director of the Finnish Museum of Photography, Deputy Director of Cedefop. Jennifer Trauscher, who manages the Impossible Project in Vienna, Vangelis Ioakeimidis, Director of the Thessaloniki Photomuseum and Christian Lettmayr, Deputy Director of Cedefop.
Aydin Cetinbostanoglu who live in Karaburun Izmir, and Wilco Van Herpen, are going to Kumbuku to see one of the oldest fishing traditions. The second stop is the abandoned Greek village Sazak. Sazak, a village with a population of 700, has abandoned overnight in September 1922. What remains is broken stone houses and deep sorrow, absorbed by all the pain. The life of nomads living in Karaburun, on the other hand, is the last subject that is reflected in the lens of two photographers. They are being guests of traditional goat shearing.
