Ara Güler’s ‘Fisherman at Kumkapı’ opens in Istanbul’s Ara Güler Museum
THE EXHIBITION “Fisherman at Kumkapı,” which features the series of articles “Armenian Fisherman at Kumkapı” published in the Jamanak newspaper, taken from Ara Güler’s archive, met art lovers at the Ara Güler Museum.
Previously unseen photographs of Kumkapı from Ara Güler’s archive, along with ephemera and examples of contact prints showing Güler’s editorial and creative process and selections, were presented to art lovers for the first time.
The series of articles that inspired the exhibition, accompanied by photographs, shed light on the now-vanished Küçük Deniz Street and the fishermen’s harbor, providing insight into the people who worked there, and their way of life. Ara Güler established himself in the field of photojournalism at an early age with the series “Armenian Fisherman at Kumkapı,” published when he was just 24 years old. This photo-reportage, which became one of the important works that brought him renown in his profession, also heralded his successful international career to follow.
Following the year 1952, Ara Güler visited the Kumkapı neighborhood many times over the years, recording a region he knew would disappear along with the people living there. He immortalized the fishermen captains, crews and market vendors by photographing them in their daily lives.
The collaboration between the Doğuş Group, a supporter of numerous long-term social responsibility platforms and projects in the field of culture and art in Türkiye, and Ara Güler resulted in the establishment of the Ara Güler Museum in 2016.