Ara Güler (; 16 August 1928 – 17 October 2018), born Mıgırdiç Ara Derderyan, was a Turkish photojournalist of Armenian descent, nicknamed "the Eye of Istanbul". He is known for his black-and-white photographs of Istanbul, as well as photographic portraits of many politicians and artists, including Indira Gandhi, Maria Callas, Willy Brandt, Alfred Hitchcock, and Salvador Dalí.

Early life and education

Ara Güler was born Mıgırdıç Aram Güleryan on 16 August 1928, in Istanbul, Turkey, the only child of Christian Armenian parents, Dacat Derderyan and Verjin Şahyan. Derderyan was a veteran of the Dardanelles campaign, and Şahyan was descended from a 400-year-old Istanbul dynasty, in Karaköy, which was founded in

1886, and had many writers, intellectuals, architects, and musicians among its alumni. a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He also photographed many other historical sites and structures in Turkey.

In the 1960s, Güler's photographs were used to illustrate books by notable authors, and were displayed at various exhibitions throughout the world. published by Newsweek. The following year, his photographs were included in 10 Masters of Color Photography at the New York Museum of Modern Art. His book Türkei was published in Germany in 1970. His photos on art and art history were used in Time, Life, Horizon, Newsweek, and publications of the Swiss publisher Skira. In the 1970s he photographed politicians and artists such as Indira Gandhi, Maria Callas, John Berger, Bertrand Russell, Willy Brandt, Alfred Hitchcock, Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí,

In 1991, his photographs were used to illustrate the book The Sixth Continent, written by Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı for the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His photographs of Sinan's work were also published under the title Turkish Style in the UK, US, and Singapore, and as Demeures Ottomanes de Turquie in France. His friend, writer Orhan Pamuk, for whose book his photographs provided illustrations, wrote of his work: "The crucial, defining characteristic of an Ara Guler photograph is the emotional correlation he draws between cityscapes and individuals".

In 1968, his work was included in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, titled Ten Masters of Color Photography. His photographs were also displayed in the Photokina trade show in Cologne, Germany. in Paris, France; and then the Tofuku-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, at the same time as the G20 Summit in Osaka was taking place. Its final display was during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Turkish composer and pianist Fahir Atakoğlu, whose 2008 album Istanbul in Blue featured a photo by Güler, performed at the opening ceremony of the exhibition. After New York, opened at Trastevere museum in Rome], Italy, before its last location, the Turkish Embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Recognition

Güler was presented in the British 1961 Photography Yearbook, and in the same year was accepted as the only Turkish member to the American Society of Magazine Photographer (later renamed the American Society of Media Photographers).

In 2017, Nezih Tavlas published a comprehensive biography of Güler, titled Photojournalist: The Life Story of Güler.

Awards and honours

  • 1961: Named one of the seven best photojournalists in the world by the Photo Annual Anthology, published in London
  • 1962: Subject of a special issue of the journal Camera ("then the most important photography publication in the world")
  • January 2018: Street in Istanbul named after Ara Güler

Death and legacy

Güler died of a heart attack on 17 October 2018.

Collections

thumb|Ara Güler Museum, Istanbul

Photographs by Güler were collected in an archive, containing some 800,000 photographic slides. Many of these are exhibited in the Ara Güler Museum in the Şişli district of Istanbul, which was established on 16 August 2018, shortly before his death. In 2022, the museum was granted "Special Museum" status by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Personal life

In 1975 Güler married Perihan Sarıöz; they later divorced. In 1984 he married Suna Taşkıran; she died in 2010. He had no children.

References

  • (10 mins), by Nezih Tavlas (20 June 2013)
  • (12 mins) (24 January 2026, Photographic Inspirations)
  • "Vintage Istanbul - in pictures" Photographs by Ara Güler, The Guardian, September 2011.