Reinterpreting the Istanbul Encyclopedia through Photography

Participants working under the guidance of Osman Bozkurt: Büşra Soydemir, Eda Emirdağ, Elif Kahveci, Sıla Bozdeveci

Participants working under the guidance of Hasan Deniz: Ekin Çekiç, Oğulcan Arslan, Sezgi Olgaç, Okan Özdemir

Participants working under the guidance of Cemre Yeşil Gönenli: Anı Ekin Özdemir, Ekin İlke Ünsal, Meltem Kaya, İmge Ildem

Workshop dates: 11-12-18-25-26 May 2019

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Organised by GAPO and SALT as part of 'Station: Istanbul Encyclopedia' at SALT Beyoğlu, the workshop brought together participants and facilitators Osman Bozkurt, Hasan Deniz, and Cemre Yeşil Gönenli to reinterpret selected entries from the Istanbul Encyclopedia through photography.

In the Istanbul Encyclopedia, Reşad Ekrem Koçu used illustrations based on photographs, even though the printing technologies of the time were capable of reproducing photographs directly. While this choice may partly be explained by the high costs of printing and paper, other factors may also have played a role: illustrations could better convey the historical context of an entry while ensuring a consistent visual language across each volume. Their relative simplicity compared to photographs, ease of manipulation, and capacity to create a certain degree of idealised imagery may also have been influential. But what kind of publication would have emerged if the entries had been accompanied by photographs rather than drawings—or if the entries themselves had taken the form of photographs?

Developed with GAPO as the coordinating organisation, the workshop began with a session in which Meriç Öner, Director of Research and Programs at SALT, and Cansu Yapıcı, Project Manager of the Istanbul Encyclopedia Archive, introduced the encyclopedia and its archive. During the workshop, participants created contemporary visual representations of encyclopedia entries selected in advance by the facilitators, as well as entries they chose according to their own interests, using newly produced photographs and archival materials.

The works produced during the workshop were presented in a one-day mini exhibition at the SALT Beyoğlu Kitchen on 26 May.