"Like Attracts Like" Exhibition at Istanbul Modern

Istanbul Modern is hosting an exhibition titled "İnsan İnsanı Çekermiş" (People Draw People), curated by Merih Akoğul. Focusing on human photographs taken by 80 photographers over an 80-year period, the exhibition can be viewed between 2 June and 18 December 2016. Istanbul Modern continues to introduce important examples of Turkish photography from its beginnings to the present day to audiences. A selection from the Istanbul Modern Photography Collection, enriched with newly acquired photographs, comes together in the exhibition titled "İnsan İnsanı Çekermiş". The exhibition features human photographs taken from Othmar Pferschy, one of the most important representatives of documentary photography in the Republican period who introduced Turkey's developing and renewing face to the world, to the present day, and can be viewed between 2 June and 18 December. In the exhibition, curated by photographer and Istanbul Modern Photography Advisory Board member Merih Akoğul, art enthusiasts examine human portraits while also tracking the evolving and changing techniques, interpretations and socioeconomic conditions over the 80-year period. The exhibition encompasses a wide range from impressionism to expressionism, from documentary to art, and from Anatolian heritage to contemporary portraits produced with the advanced facilities of the studio, through the photographers' distinctive perspectives. "İnsan İnsanı Çekermiş" also presents to the audience a summary of the general sentiment created by photographs featuring people.

Journey in Time

Istanbul Modern Board Chair Oya Eczacıbaşı, expressing her satisfaction at the Istanbul Modern Photography Collection, which started 12 years ago with 312 photographs and today reaches 8,000 works, emphasized the time journey in the "İnsan İnsanı Çekermiş" exhibition. Eczacıbaşı said, "The exhibition, which features photographs reflecting different periods, contexts and perspectives, brings together in harmony a frame shot 80 years ago with a frame from three years ago. In the exhibition where we will embark on a journey through a time tunnel, scenes centered on people, sometimes staged in the studio and sometimes in outdoor settings with different perspectives and methods, are presented."

"Photographers Capture Energy"

Merih Akoğul, who curated the exhibition and closely follows Turkish photography history, noted that "İnsan İnsanı Çekermiş" provides an opportunity to observe how a subtext is created in photographs. Akoğul said, "People emit energy. Photographers capture that energy. Photography goes beyond taking photographs; it requires seeing the energy that people emit and reflecting it in the frame. While the exhibition sheds light on different periods, it also presents frames taken through the eyes of artists, journalists and academics to the audience in harmony and wholeness."