The legendary photographer Ara Güler, nicknamed The Eye of Istanbul, has died last week of a heart failure at 90 years old. This is a feature we published last year when the book about his life was released.
As you turn the pages of this book narrating the life of the legendary name in photography Ara Guler , you will evidence the passing of 80-years of Turkey’s history.
You will hold your breath as you read the incredible tales of Ara Guler ‘s life as he ran after wars, coups, civilizations, disasters and people which changed the fate of the world. These pages bear witness to the efforts and the price Master Ara Guler ended up paying to be able to be in the right place at the right time…
Following Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, Henri CartierBresson and Paul Strand, the representatives of the realism movement in photography in the world, Ara Guler, who was raised on the soil of Turkey, claimed his rightful place among these legendary names. His photo-interviews were a cause célèbre because he focused his lens on the individual and photographed the individual without eliminating reality, yet managed to include a similar proportion of esthetics in his work.
The Editor-in-Chief of Magnum Photos , James A. Fox, described Ara Guler as, “Above all else as a generous, elegant and witty man. He is one of the best storytellers I know. His life like the lives of many well-known photojournalists is full of anecdotes. These are the living memories of this century which are never reflected on film and only partially caught on camera”.
It is evident from the words of Ugur Mumcu, the master of investigative journalism in Turkey, how ideal the name of Nezih Tavlas was in gathering the ‘living memories’ of a giant such as Ara Guler and writing about his life when he said, “The number of those involved in investigative journalism in Turkey can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Underdevelopment is rife in this area as well. Nezih Tavlas is one of these few journalists”.
Nezih succeeded after arduous labor. I introduced them . Perhaps it was because both were journalists their frequency synced right away. Ara who was known by all as a rough ride unthawed there and then. He did something he had never done with anyone else before: he opened his heart and his archive. He gave his letters, his works, his notebooks, everything that he had never shared with anyone to Nezih. I enjoyed watching their debates based on an immediate mutual trust which was often accompanied with laughter.
But do not think it was simple; there is no such thing as “Ara narrated and Nezih wrote”. I have personally witnessed Nezih working for days and hours in the National Library, the Library of the Turkish Historical Society over one word uttered by Ara. When you look at the reference section at the end of the book you will see what I mean. They did not have the opportunity to meet whenever they wanted because they lived in different cities. Nezih used his weekends and annual leave to meet at every opportunity and when that was not possible he took advantage of telephone calls which lasted for hours. However, he always did his homework regarding the era they were working on; he put newspaper clippings from the relevant times, tickets, carnets, photographs, whatever he could lay his hands on to facilitate remembering and put them in his case. Like a detective he asked hundreds of questions to uncover the tiniest issue. Although Ara could get frustrated at times, with this method Nezih was able to shed light on many issues and put them in chronological order. In fact this was instrumental in supplementing Ara’s archive with works and news items that he did not have.
During the interviews which lasted for days and hours and which I observed with interest, I frequently heard Ara’s surprised exclamation of ‘how do you know that? Or ‘who told you?’ There were features that Nezih delivered for which he would say ‘don’t write that’ and he would respect it.
Nezih, who Ara would introduce everywhere as “My biographer”, is one of those people who are not keen on having their names and personalities exposed to the public which is why he delegated the writing of the preface to me and asked me to extend his appreciation for all those who were involved in the book.
I am thrilled to have transmitted to you the life of a legend such as Ara Guler whom I have had the honor of working with for 10 years. On every page you turn you will feel the terrific ‘sense of humor’ Master Ara has in his outlook on life and you will evidence that the unforgettable frames which have been embedded in our minds were not generated merely as a result of chance or coincidence.
Hasan Senyuksel
Hasan Senyuksel is a curator, photography consultant and the Turkey Representative of Magnum Photos.
Photojournalist: The Life Story of Ara Guler
By Nezih Tavlas
Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Available at Amazon
$12
