photo by Rena Effendi
A photograph is the eye and the heart of a newspaper. The Zaman daily is crowning its 25-year journey with a project that is the most comprehensive work of photography ever launched in Turkey. Within the project, titled “Türkiye’de Zaman”/Time in Turkey, our newspaper invited 25 world renowned photographers to tell stories in photos that reflect life and issues unique to Turkey from their particular points of view. These masters of photography, who have recorded sorrow, joy and the hope of people in their own style and language in various places and hotspots of the world, under sometimes difficult conditions, and whose works are published in internationally prestigious publications, came together for the big “photo of Turkey” for Zaman. The photographers travelled throughout Anatolia, the cradle of many civilizations.
Experienced professionals and journalists from Steve McCurry to Paolo Pellegrin and from Eric Bouvet to Anders Petersen showed us stories from our country that we had not seen, although we had looked. While Jane Evelyn Atwood descended into a coal mine in Zonguldak, Bruno Barbey worked in places that reflected the historical background of İstanbul. Samuel Bollendorff searched the lives that changed due to “water” in the Southeast. Eric Bouvet covered night shift police officers in Istanbul. While Kathryn Cook pursued the traces of 1,000-year-old civilizations in the Ahlat district of Bitlis province, Claudine Doury chronicled young women who are textile workers. Carolyn Drake focused on football culture. Nikos Economopoulos compiled road trip stories from the East and Southeast to the depths of Anatolia. Michel Vanden Eeckhoudt was the guest of Turkish nomads living in Mersin. Rena Effendi worked in the labyrinth-like streets of Tarlabaşı, a neighborhood very close to Istiklal Street in İstanbul, while George Georgiou showed how Anatolia has changed. Harry Gruyaert reflected the colors of İstanbul. Guillaume Herbaut spent time in the highlands of Rize to depict tea culture. Ed Kashi took photos depicting economic development in the country, while Massimo Mastrorillo looked into the new Turkey that is being rebuilt on the margins of urban transformation. Steve McCurry included the whirling dervishes in Bursa province in his portfolio. Davide Monteleone was around the Marmara Sea to capture the importance of the Bosporus and Çanakkale straits. Christopher Morris photographed President Abdullah Gül with the people around him at the Tarabya presidential residence. Paolo Pellegrin took photos of the Kırkpınar oil wrestling in Edirne. Anders Petersen shot minority groups, and Reza photographed an Ashura ceremony in İstanbul. Anthony Suau focused on the concepts of wealth and prosperity, as Gaël Turine looked at the TV industry by examining the series “Valley of the Wolves.” Vanessa Winship presented portraits of children who attended the Turkish Olympiads from all over the world, while Ami Vitale portrayed the other side of Kapadokya (Cappadocia).
Selahattin Sevi
Photo galleries at Time in Turkey website
