Ara Güler
2009 Honoree / Lifetime Achievement Award
ARA GÜLER was born in Istanbul in 1928. The most important living representative of creative photography in Turkey today, he has a well-established international reputation. He began a career in journalism with the newspaper Yeni ?stanbul in 1950. He became a photojournalist for Time-Life in 1956 and for Paris Match and Stern in 1958. Around the same time, he joined the Magnum Agency. In the British Journal of Photography Year Book published in the UK in 1968, Güler was named one of the seven best photographers in the world. In 1962, he received the ‘Master of Leica’ award in Germany. Güler has held hundreds of exhibitions of his work all over the world. He has also interviewed and photographed numerous celebrities ranging from Bertrand Russell and Winston Churchill to Arnold Toynbee, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali.
Many examples of Ara Güler’s photographic work are to be found in institutions such as the French National Library in Paris and the Sheldon Collection at Nebraska University as well as in private collections in Boston, Chicago and New York. His photographs are also on display at the Ludwig Museum and at Das Imaginäre Photo-Museum, both in Cologne. Ara Guler is Chief Editor of the ?z Magazine.
Selected Awards:
– Earned the ‘MASTER OF LEICA’, a title awarded by Leica to only 38 artists in the world, 1961 Germany
– Named one of ‘Seven Star Photographers’ in the BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY YEAR BOOK, 1961 Britain
– Awarded First Prize in Photojournalism by the Turkish Association of Journalists, 1979
– Awarded a plaque by the Directorate General of Press and Information for valuable contributions to the Turkish Press, 24 July 1981
– Received the honorary award of the Office of the Prime Minister, Directorate General of Press and Information for services in promoting Turkey overseas and was presented with the award by the then President, Turgut Özal, at the opening of the International Press Centre in Sepetçiler Kasr?, 7 July 1991
– Won the Successful Communicators Award, 1995 Turkey
– Received the Photographer of the Year Award from ?FSAK (Istanbul Amateur Photography and Cinema Club), 1995 Turkey
– Won the 1995 Successful Communicators Award of the Istanbul University Faculty of Communications, 1995 Istanbul
– Received the Honorary Award for Top Communicators from the Marmara University Faculty of Communications, 1999 Istanbul
– Awarded the Grand Prize for Visual Arts by the Ayd?n Do?an Foundation, 1999
– Earned the Burhan Felek Services to the Media Award, presented to journalists after 50 years in the profession by the Turkish Association of Journalists, 1999
– Awarded the Order of Merit by the Armenian Patriarchate to mark his 70th birthday, 2000 Istanbul
– Named Photographer of the Century in Turkey, 2000 Istanbul
– Awarded the Légion d’Honneur medal and title of Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government in the Palais de France, 2002 Istanbul
– Awarded an honorary doctorate from Y?ld?z University, 2004 Istanbul
-Presidencyof the Republic Of Turkey Garnd Award for Culture and Art, 2005
Six doctorate theses have been written on Ara Güler including one in German from the University of Münich.
Major Publications: Foto?raflar (Istanbul: Karacan Yay?nlar?, 1980); Ara
Güler’in Sinemac?lar? (Istanbul: Hil Yay?nlar?, 1989); Sinan, Architect of
Soliman the Magnificent (Paris: Editions Arthaud, 1992; London and New
York: Thames & Hudson, 1992); Living in Turkey (Paris: Albin
Michel, 1993; London and New York: Thames & Hudson, 1993; Singapore:
Archipelago Press, 1993); Eski ?stanbul An?lar? (Istanbul: Dünya Yay?nlar?, Ana
Yay?nc?l?k, 1994); Bir Devir Böyle Geçti, Kalanlara Selam Olsun (Istanbul: Ana
Yay?nc?l?k, 1994); Yitirilmi? Renkler (Istanbul: Dünya Yay?nc?l?k, 1995);
Yüzlerinde Yeryüzü (Istanbul: Ana Yay?nc?l?k, 1995); Babilden Sonra Ya?ayaca??z
(specially published on the occasion of Ara Güler’s 70th birthday; Istanbul:
Aras Yay?nevi, 1996); Istanbul des Djinns (Montpellier: Fata Morgana, 2001); Seven Landmarks of the World (Istanbul: Yap? Kredi Yay?nlar?, 2002); 100 Yüz (Istanbul: Yap? Kredi Yay?nlar?, 2003); Retrospektif – 50 Y?l Fotojurnalizm (Istanbul: YGS Yay?nlar?, 2004); Ara Güler (Istanbul: Antartist Yay?nlar?, 2005); Ara’dan Yetmi?yedi Y?l Geçti – Best of Ara Güler (Fotografevi Yay?nlar?, 2005,?stanbul); Beyaz Güvercinli Adam ( Fotografevi Yay?nlar?, 2007, ?stanbul); Ara Güler ( Hachette, 2007); Call of Aphrodisias ( Yap? Kredi yay?nlar?, 2008, ?stanbul)
Ara Güler also made the documentary film Kahraman?n Sonu (A Heroine’s End), an account of the dismantling and scrapping of the Turkish battleship Yavuz.