Description

Paperback. Pbo. with original dust wrapper. 4to. (29 x 23 cm). 141, [3] p. Color and b/w ills. In Turkish and English. Mint. In the exhibition, the curator of which is Engin Özendes, the photographs by Ergün Turan and Süreyya Y¿lmaz Dernek of the passers-by in their natural conditions will be displayed on one wall, with S¿tk¿ Kösemen¿s photographs of people ¿playing possum¿ will be placed on the other. The exhibition where a total of 52 photographs from the two projects will be displayed will last until January 25th, 2009. Ergün Turan and Süreyya Y¿lmaz Dernek who for four years have photographed people passing through the streets in various districts of Istanbul in a style similar to that of street photographers who use clothes with ¿Souvenir of Istanbul¿ written on them, in front of a black background stretched on a wooden tambour, like that in some Turkish films of the years 1960-1970, assert that in the streets of the city we live in we are eye to eye with countless faces, with ¿others¿ every day. ¿Behind our personalities which we embrace tightly, and behind the masks we put on our faces, there¿s an ¿Essence¿ hidden deep in our existence. When we permit this ¿Essence¿ in the deep to come to the surface, we can no longer be angry at, feel enmity for or be jealous of each other. Maybe we can thus see our differences not as a reason for conflict, but as the wealth of life; we can overcome the barriers of race, religion, language, nationality; we can accept the whole of humanity as our family, and the planet as our home. This may also help us to take a small breath in face of the narcissistic interpretation of the world which forfeits the right to live to those not resembling one, who puts himself and his needs at the centre of the universe. All the secret is hidden in ¿The Other¿. ¿The Other¿ means difference. Accepting the difference and trying to understand it is a window opened to know oneself. In the streets of this city we live in, we are eye to eye with countless faces everyday, ¿The Others¿. All this city is filled with their voices, their pain and delight. It breaths in and out with them. At the corner of the city a black panel. Standing in front of the panel are people different from each other. They look at us with whatever they have, with all their stories. They are our world. They are, US.¿