Middle Town: Picturing the Unspectacular
Artists: Andris Feldmanis (EE), Artis Silenieks (LV), Diana Tamane (LV), Ieva Epnere (LV, BE), Iveta Vaivode (LV), Karolina Wojtasik (PL), Michela Palermo (IT), Müge Yılmaz (TR), Nico Baumgarten (DE), Volkan Kızıltunç (TR), Yiğit Tanel Kaçar (TR), Zeynep Beler (TR)
Tutors: Bas Vroege, Hans van der Meer
Partner Organizations: ISSP (LV), GAPO (TR), Fotoforum (TR)
Supporting Institutions: European Cultural Foundation, Stiftung Mercator, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon Municipality, the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Istanbul, and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Riga
Project dates: March-November 2012
At an international level, countries and cities compete fiercely to host major events such as the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, or European Capital of Culture programmes. Cities and towns seek to distinguish and celebrate themselves through their historical heritage or cultural and sporting events. But what can extraordinary events in extraordinary cities tell us about everyday quality of life, the ways in which societies are organised, or the cultural values embedded in everyday activities? The project Middle Town: Picturing the Unspectacular set out to explore these questions by turning its attention to “middle-sized cities”—places without the associations typically sought by tourists, yet where the realities of everyday life can be observed more closely. Looking at ordinary people living in ordinary cities in ordinary regions, the project sought to discover seemingly mundane yet meaningful ways of life and to bring the often overlooked aspects of society into view.
Middle Town: Picturing the Unspectacular was realised by GAPO and FotoForum from Türkiye, in partnership with ISSP from Latvia and with the collaboration of Paradox from the Netherlands. Developed within Tandem – Cultural Managers Exchange: EU–Turkey, a cultural cooperation programme supporting civil society across Europe and neighbouring regions, the project brought together 12 photographers selected from a total of 96 applications: four from Latvia, four from Türkiye, and one each from Germany, Italy, Estonia, and Poland.
The project began with two workshops led by experienced Dutch tutors Bas Vroege—editor, curator, lecturer, and founder and director of Paradox—and documentary photographer Hans van der Meer. The first workshop took place in Trabzon, Türkiye, from 12–17 March 2012, followed by a second workshop in Latvia from 4–12 August 2012. The outcomes of the participants’ initial mini-projects in Trabzon were presented both as an exhibition and in four maquette books, each created by groups of three participants who selected and sequenced photographs from a shared pool of work.
During the second workshop in Latvia, the participants developed and edited their main projects, which explored the things that become normalised and overlooked in everyday life—from urban landscapes and human behaviour to still lifes and archival material. The resulting works were presented as 11 maquette books and two videos. First shown at ISSP’s 2012 final exhibition, the maquette books and videos were subsequently presented with a newspaper bringing together the project and its participants’ work at Depo in Istanbul as part of TANDEM’s closing events, from 1–4 November 2012; at Amed Art Gallery during the Diyarbakır Photography Days, from 30 March–7 April 2013; and finally at the 2017 Istanbul Photobook Festival.
