Constructing Family through Photography
Participants working under the guidance of Gökhun Baltacı:: Umut Kambak, Şeniz Polat, Burcu Solmaz
Participants working under the guidance of Pelin Buzluk: Hatice Ataç, Özlem Dengiz Uğur, Derya Güçlü, İnan Öner
Participants working under the guidance of Cemil Batur Gökçeer: Eda Abay, Çağıl Erkay, Göksel Keysan
Workshop dates: 18-19 January, 25 January, 9 February, 15-16 February 2020
Exhibition dates: 19-23 February 2020
'Constructing Family through Photography' was a workshop organised by GAPO and SALT as part of the parallel programme accompanying Nur Koçak’s exhibition 'Our Blissful Souvenirs' at Çankaya Municipality’s Contemporary Arts Centre. Led by painter Gökhun Baltacı, writer Pelin Buzluk, and photographer Cemil Batur Gökçeer, the workshop brought together ten participants who produced works examining family photographs not only as a means of constructing personal histories, but also in relation to the formation of the concept of family and a shared memory specific to the family.
Introduced in 1888 and 1900 respectively, the Kodak Camera and the Brownie made photography accessible to much wider audiences, turning it into an increasingly widespread amateur practice. As traditional forms of life and production, in which home and work largely occupied the same space, gave way to the modern nuclear family and lives increasingly shaped by work outside the home and the pressure of time, photographs gradually took on a more pronounced role in bringing families together. Carefully assembled in albums, family photographs became archival collections to be passed on to future generations, while also functioning as representations that defined and idealised the “ideal family” of their time through details ranging from poses and clothing to domestic settings.
Developed in response to Koçak’s photorealistic paintings based on her own family albums, the programme began with public presentations by Gülsüm Depeli, Gülbin Özdamar Akarçay, and Naz Önen on 18 January. During the 'Constructing Family through Photography' workshop, the facilitators and participants developed works using their own family albums, found archival materials, or newly produced images, exploring and questioning the relationship between family photographs and concepts such as the image of the family, shared histories, memory, roles within the family, the contemporary family, and families formed later in life.
Hosted by the artist initiative Torun, the workshop outcomes were first presented on 16 February and subsequently exhibited to the public from 19 to 23 February.
