• Shortly About Me

    Zeynel Plateau, 1975 Turkey

    I was born in Izmir in 1954. My master introduced me to photography in the 1960s. I took my first photograph in 1970. In 1973, my art teacher encouraged me to open an exhibition and I did. I was still a high school student at Izmir Ataturk Lisesi at the time. The same year, I hitchhiked across Turkey. The vastness of my country and the diversity of the people made me realize that I had a lot of work ahead of me. In 1978, I graduated from the School of Political Science at Ankara University. I have been capturing the cultural, historical, and natural assets of Turkey since 1970. I shared my work with viewers through 39 solo exhibitions and 12 group shows in Turkey and 15 group shows abroad. My works were published in a number of media organs and a TV documentary was made about me. I also appeared on live interviews. I received several awards in Turkey and abroad since 1975. The international awards of the last three years are as follows: In February of 2013, I received the Grand Prize at the photography competition "Learning for Life, Working to Grow" organized by the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography and the European Union as part of the International Thessaloniki Photo Biennale. In 2013 and 2015, I won five Performance Awards in different categories of the Humanity Photo Awards organized in China by UNESCO and CFPA*. During the award ceremony celebrations in China, a toast was made in my honor for lending meaning to the lives of other people with my works and for creating awareness about their lives. In 2013 and 2014, my two different socio-cultural projects were included among the best 100 entries in book The Other Hundred, organized in Hong Kong by the Global Institute For Tomorrow and centered on the theme "The Unspoken Quiet Majority." Two consecutive times, I was chosen one of the best 100 photographers in the world in the category of storytelling. The printed photograph album was sold in numerous countries across the world. In 2015, I was awarded the Allard Prize given by The University of British Columbia, Canada to photographers working in the field of human rights. In 2015, this prize was given to four photographers in the world. My works generally include long-term projects on Anatolian cultures and human rights, such as Romanis, Alevis, Armenians, Yuruks, and refugee camps.

    Biography with images 

Awards
  • 1975 "Woman in Life" First Award, Istanbul
  • 1975 "Woman in Life" Special Jury Award, Istanbul
  • 1989 "Street, Houses & Living" First Award, Istanbul
  • 1990 Turkish Ministry of Culture, State 4th Photo Competition, Color Print, 3rd Award, Ankara
  • 1995 "Living Science and Technic" Color Print, Mention, Ankara
  • 17.Sep.2008 Karaburun Municipality Photo Competition, First Award, Izmir
  • 25.Feb.2013 "Learning for life, working to grow" by Thessaloniki Photomuseum, First Award, Greece
  • 28.May.2013 "100 best stories from all over the world" project by "The Other Hundred", Hong Kong
  • 21.June.2014 Two Humanity Photo Awards in two categories by Unesco & Cfpa", Beijing, China
  • 28.Aug.2014 "Entrepreneurs" 100 best stories from all over the world, project by "The Other Hundred", Hong Kong
  • 02.June.2015 Three Humanity Photo Awards in three categories by Unesco & Cfpa", Beijing, China
  • 17.Dec.2015 Allard Prize, The University of British Colombia, Canada
  • 24.June.2016 "Educators" 100 best stories from all over the world, project by "The Other Hundred", Hong Kong
  • Exhibitions  Some Of Them

    Since 1973 till today

      "M" Mixed Exhibitions
    • 6.May.1973 City Public Library, Izmir
    • 6.May.1974 French Culture Association, Izmir
    • 24.Nov.1975 Sinematek Association, Istanbul
    • 19.Dec.1975 Academy Cinema Club, Eskisehir
    • 29.March.1976 German Culture Association, Izmir
    • M 15.March.1985 22nd Zagreb Salon International Exhibition, Yugoslavia
    • M 04.April.1987 Spectrum Guernsey 15th International Color Slide Exhibition, UK
    • >M 31.Dec.1987 Fribourg Naturhistorisches Museum "Homosapiens" / Switzerland
    • M 30.Sept.1988 9th Bifota Berlin International Photo Exhibition, East Germany
    • 05.April.1989 Akbank Beylerbeyi Art Gallery, Istanbul
    • 01.Sept.1989 State Art Gallery, Izmir
    • 28.April.1995 Ataturk High School, Izmir
    • 06.Jan.2003 Canon Art Gallery, Izmir
    • 07.April.2008 Maltepe University, The Faculty of Art, Istanbul
    • M 19.Nov .2009 "Humanizing Development" Global Photography Campaign by UNDP,Brazil
    • 02.Sept.2010 5th Karaburun Science Congress / Izmir
    • 12.Aug.2011 Karaburun Festival, Izmir
    • M 20.August.2013 Ariano International Film Festival, Italy
    • M 10.Oct.2013 The Other Hundred, Hong Kong
    • M Oct.2014 Cedefop&Photo Museum Awards Exhibition, Thessaloniki, Greece
    • 03.October.2014 Sarpincik Village, Izmir
    • M18.Sept.2015 Memories of Mankind IX, Shangri-La, China
    • M28.April.2016 Youmanity "ImAge" King's College, London, UK
    • 11.May.2016 Fototrek, Istanbul
    • 07.April.2017 Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
    • 22.April.2019 Plovdiv University, Bulgaria
    • 15.Sept.2019 Roma Culture Festival Dortmund, Germany
    • M24-28.October.2022 9th Tashkent Contemporary Art Biennale, Uzbekistan

    email:cetinbostanoglu@gmail.com