Yıldız Moran: A Mountain Tale

Istanbul Modern is presenting an exhibition titled "Yıldız Moran: A Mountain Tale," featuring works by Yıldız Moran (1932-1995), Turkey's first academically trained professional woman photographer. Moran produced her works in the early 1950s and is considered one of our most important photographers. Between 1950 and 1962, the artist dedicated a total of 12 years of her life to photography, making significant contributions to the photographic approaches of subsequent generations. Particularly in her photographs taken in Anatolia, Yıldız Moran wove together her love of humanity, artistic sensitivity and photographic intuition, creating a distinctive field of her own. This impressionist aesthetic, which encompasses not only the photographic approaches of that era but also the new artistic perspectives of our time, and which addresses the people she photographed together with the geography in which they lived, imbued with lyricism, constitutes the most important characteristic of Moran's photographs. The artist, who was able to perceive today's photographic vision years in advance, is now receiving great interest not only from photography authorities but also from art audiences both in our country and around the world. Curated by Merih Akoğul, "Yıldız Moran: A Mountain Tale" presents to the viewer a selection of photographs taken over 12 years on various subjects such as nature, abstraction, portraiture, daily life, Anatolia, Istanbul and abroad, many of which are being shown for the first time. The 86 photographs in the exhibition also serve as a tribute to the artist, who would have been 86 years old today had she lived. Merih Akoğul describes the significance of Yıldız Moran for Turkish photographic art with the following words: Curator: Merih Akoğul Left: Yıldız Moran, Self-Portrait, 1955 Right: Yıldız Moran, Cappadocia, 1955