“A writer cannot be a journalist. A photojournalist is a real journalist.”
Who he is
Istanbul is known as an eminently picturesque city. Thus being called the “Eye of Istanbul,” like the virtuosic Armenian photographer from Turkey Ara Guler, is no small feat.
Guler’s exceptional talents led him to be the first correspondent for Time-Life magazine in Turkey, after which he was commissioned to work for several other magazines and newspapers around the world. He was selected as one of the world’s best photographers in a poll by a British magazine.
Born into an Armenian family in Istanbul, having attended Armenian school as a child and despite his ethnic background, he became Turkey’s most renowned photographer. Most uniquely, and perhaps unexpectedly, Guler views himself as a photojournalist documenting life rather than an artist using photography as his medium.
Interesting fact
Guler discovered the ancient city of Aphrodisias, dating back to 500 B.C., while touring the interior of Turkey with the prime minister at the time. He noticed what looked like Hellenic columns and brought it to the attention of archaeologists. The site was excavated and turned out to be an ancient Greek city.
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