Beşiktaş to host int'l open-air photo exhibition

FotoIstanbul Beşiktaş International Photography Festival, the most comprehensive photography organization ever to be held in Istanbul, will run from Oct. 9 to Nov. 8. The festival, which will take place at Beşiktaş Barbaros Avenue, Beşiktaş Demokrasi Park, Ortaköy Orphanage and Ortaköy Cultural Center, will attract millions of photography lovers to Istanbul with the works of about 60 photographers from the United States, Asia and Turkey. FotoIstanbul will also host nearly 20 photograph artists including Joseph Koudelka, who is one of the most important living photographers in the world, Anders Petersen, Atta Kim and Stanley Greene.

The festival will also welcome the works of 25 other photographers such as Itkı Kösemen, Haluk Çobanoğlu, Laleper Aytek, Kürşat Bayhan, Meltem Işık and Cemre Yeşil. The festival will also present a special event featuring Ara Güler as part of the "Honoring the Masters" section. The exhibition will display the unseen photos of the master Güler and also host a panel session on the art of Güler. Within the scope of the "Honoring the Masters" section, an exhibition will highlight the life and works of American photographer Robert Frank, who changed the course of the history.

The festival team describes the theme of the festival as follows, "We are interested in others, namely who we are not. We want to know and understand others as they are. We do not expect a change. We want to look at the life not only from our perspective, but from the perspective of others. We even want to look at ourselves from different angles." The second edition of FotoIstanbul International Photography Festival's program features 45 exhibitions, 15 panels and roundtable discussions, 80 photography presentations, over 200 portfolio assessments, discussions with senior photographers and an autograph session.

The program will also include an Instagram photography competition. Anyone can attend the competition until Oct. 9. The competition is organized in collaboration with Everyday Projects and finalists will receive prizes. Those who rank in the top 100 can display their photographs until the end of the festival. In its' second year, Atilla Durak is the artistic director of the festival, while Rıza Erdeğirmenci is the general director. Hüseyin Yılmaz and Jason Eskenazi are the festival curators, and Çoşar Kulaksız will be the supervisor.