Which one is your Copy?

[A Photography Workshop on Reality, Originality, Original Copies, Existing Copies, and Other Things]

Participants: Canan Erbil Onur Ciddi, Erdem Varol, Doruk Kumkumoğlu, M. Cevahir Akbaş, Emin Yüksel, Doğan Arslan, Bekir Dindar,

Yiğit Kahraman, Simru Hazal Civan, Merve Seçkin, Ecem Doğan

Dates: November-December 2016

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'Which one is your Copy?', organised by Geniş Açı Project Office (GAPO) in collaboration with SALT, was a discussion- and production-based programme exploring the photographic implications of the concept of the “original copy,” which also formed the conceptual basis of the exhibition 'One and the Many' at SALT Galata. Coordinated by GAPO, the programme took place between November and December 2016, bringing together 12 participants across eight sessions.

Since its invention, photography has been regarded as an exact reflection of life or reality—a kind of original copy. A significant number of photographers have likewise pursued the ideal of creating their own original photographic copies. Documentary photography, particularly in its classical form, has been closely associated with this quality and consequently positioned alongside the notion of reality. At the same time, there are photographers who choose not to create new copies but instead work with existing ones—snapshot photographs, found photographs, and archival materials—making them the primary material of their practice. Moreover, because photographs can be reproduced, photography also makes it possible to produce multiple, distinct original copies of the same image.

The 'Which one is your Copy?' workshop began with a session in which these different characteristics of photography were discussed and the participants’ practices were reviewed. The following two sessions featured presentations by Rana Öztürk and Özge Ersoy on originality, original copies, and ready-made objects in art history and photography. In presentations open to the public, Metehan Özcan, Ege Kanar, and Selim Süme, who work with found materials such as archival and snapshot photographs, and Ekin Özbiçer, Alp Sime, and Melisa Önel, who favour creating original photographic copies, shared their practices and experiences.

Following a series of sessions in which the works participants planned to produce or develop within the workshop were discussed and a roadmap for their projects was established, the participants developed their projects in response to the questions explored throughout 'Which one is your Copy?'. The resulting works were presented at SALT Galata on 28 January 2017.