Pinhole Photographs "Pinhole Photographs" by 33 young photographers

In the exhibition “Pinhole Photographs”, Istanbul Modern Photography Gallery featured works by 33 young photographers who use the pinhole technique based on the 2500-year-old Camera Obscura principle. The exhibition consisted of 67 photographs that recall a historic period in the art of photography.

Member of the Adana Photograph Amateurs Association (AFAD) and a teacher of Turkish Language and Literature at the Adasokağı High School in Adana, Nuri Gürdil created a photography workshop at the school in September 2006 to share his knowledge about the field of photography and develop his students’ aesthetic taste. The photography workshop set an example for other schools in the city, spread to 10 different schools across the Seyhan, Pozantı, and Yüreğir counties of Adana. Unable to provide the necessary equipment, the students participating in the photography workshop resolved this problem by working with pinhole technique, the most primitive version of the photographic camera that is based on the principles of Camera Obscura. In this endeavor, they created pinhole devices by using punctured cans and similar objects. They took advantage of AFAD’s dark room and partook in its various activities and events at their will. They also developed their own films. In this endeavor, they strived to show that what takes the picture is not the camera, but the creative mind.

“Pinhole Photographs” brought together students’ works, photographed the monumental structures and the cultural heritage of Adana in the course of this work. The pinhole devices that the young photographers designed to capture images were also displayed in the exhibition.

Artists: Rezzan S. Ak, Hüseyin Aslan, Ömer Atabey, Erkan Bağ, Fatma Bal, İsa Büyükbayram, Hatice Çam, Fatma Çevik, Alican Çiçek, Ali Demirci, Fuat Ergin, Eren Eryol, Beyhan Güler, Burhan Güler, Ozan Gürdil, Cumali Harmandalı, Efe Işın, Ramazan Kayakşu, Erdal Koçak, Nurullah Kuzu, Ece Mezarcı, Hasan Mugan, Seher Önen, Çiğdem Özdemir, Ezgi Özgen, Serdal Özsangül, Yusuf Şaban Öztürk, Cemile Polat, Erhan Saygılı, Akın Fayık Sayılgan, Çağatay Seyhan Solak, Elem Şeflek, İsa Uluçay

Curator: Engin Özendes