interview

Portraits Of İstanbul

An interview with Ali Taptik

Michael Borowski

Michael Borowski You studied architecture in school. How did you become interested in photography?

Ali Taptik My interest in photography started very early. When I was 14, I started taking pictures. I decided to study architecture because there weren’t any photography schools; I mean good photography schools, present at that time.  Architecture seemed to be a more interesting choice in its connection to art and theory, and in the end I manipulated my curriculum in a way that I didn’t take many classes in structure or building details but I took critical theory or art history.

1. Ali Taptik, from the series Kaza ve Kader, 2004-8.

AT Yes. In my 2nd year I was invited to a masterclass in Stockholm, a very intensive course. Before then I wasn’t sure about being a professional photographer but with that course I decided that that’s what I wanted. I finished my studies anyway because I liked studying architecture more than being an architect. Interestingly, in Turkey, very good photographers are often architects.

MB How would you describe your photographic style?

AT That’s a difficult one. I would say I’m more interested in the ordinary things, small things we consider everyday life, the place of individual, and the idea of "right here right now". For that I try to build a language for myself. Which, as you can see in these series, is through many things: buildings, portraits, but I try to connect all these single things through a mood, through emotions rather than concepts or ideas. I guess I could say that I’m a romantic in this sense. I also start out with some words. Like in this series “accident” is the concept, and it’s analyzed in many layers. I can say it’s about the accident of a photograph, that you can’t foresee what’s going to happen in 1/60th of a second. Also, you can extend the interpretation of this word to a more major level. Istanbul is a particular city in that sense. I find it quite accidental or organic.

MB Can you talk a little more about the title “Accidents and Fate”?

AT In Turkish both words are very connected. It’s kind of like accepting what’s going on, or a mentality of not shouting or protesting things, like sadly accepting things. It’s a very old expression, like leaving things to accident and fate.

2. Ali Taptik, from the series Kaza ve Kader, 2004-8.

AT Not at all. My method of working is I start out with images in mind. I think that’s the way it works for many photographers, you start out with some images in mind, but photography exists where the images in your mind meet the reality, the negotiation of these things, your own reality and what’s outside. I tend to gather a lot of images and it’s possible to build very different series with these pictures but as the project goes along there are always some edits in between, with longer intervals between them. You start with a huge pile and you refine it and refine it until it comes to what you want to say or express. For example, with this work I first showed it in 2006, then in 2007, then in 2008, then in 2009, so it keeps evolving each time its displayed and there’s always some pictures being taken out of the series. I’m looking forward to the book actually, for me it will be the end of this project. Once the book is out there won't be any more changes I hope.

MB Are there any images from the series that you remember being the first images you imagined?

AT Yes there are. One of them is definitely where the title comes from, is this picture of a boy. I was trying to make a landscape picture but this annoying boy kept running around me, and I was quite angry, but this is what it’s all about. It’s someone coming and sticking their head in front of your camera. More than half of the pictures were exhibited in 2006, but there are also some photographs I took from another project that actually fit better here, because the work is not really closed, so it keeps on growing. It makes me feel a little bit tired, continuously going back to this work. I consider this series the work that I started to build up a language for myself. And it’s my most exhibited work, but it has to stop somewhere. You can do this all your life, and just the titles will change or the moods will change. But for this one I hope soon it will be over. My teachers in Sweden come from a photography genre that is amazed by books rather than exhibitions, so it’s always building up a series for a book, so the project started with this intention. I quite like the fact that it was exhibited before the book came out and I had the chance to get a lot of input. And I think it’s a little more generous to show something before its really finished, before it's completely, 100% done, because than you can share it with people and you can continue working. It’s exciting to see what people think. You always have your managers and teachers to criticize you but what the public thinks also gives you some kind of energy. 

3. Ali Taptik, from the series Kaza ve Kader, 2004-8.

AT Books. Especially in the case of Turkey, we don’t have any publisher that is specialized in artist books or photography books. We only have one space that is trying to build up this status, which is BAS, but they have such limited resources. It’s not common to have photography books published. Most of the Turkish photography books are very boring. It’s a major problem I think here, that there are no people who can direct photography or help photographers, who are not photographers, like photo editors or curators specialized in photography. For example in Italy or France it’s an important profession. It’s hard to edit ones own work so you need this creative input from people specialized in this area. That also affects the quality of the photographs.

MB In the series you combine architectural spaces with portraits. How would you describe the relationship between the two?

AT I think they are all portraits, portraits of buildings. I look at buildings like people, and when I look back at my pictures I see them as portraits rather than architectural photographs, so their connection lies in this mood or feeling towards things. I think it’s very similar if I photograph a person or photograph a building, the feeling inside me doesn’t change. Through this feeling I connect these pictures.

4. Ali Taptik, from the series Kaza ve Kader, 2004-8.

AT It’s probably the places I feel more connected to. Because when you live in Istanbul, and I’ve lived in Istanbul all my life, you don’t notice this crowded sense of Istanbul anymore. You notice it only when you go to a small village somewhere and think “Oh where are the people?” Like bigger cities in Europe are nothing compared to Istanbul, populations wise, so you kind of feel like “where are the people?” But because of that you become so used to it, I think I have a blindness for the crowds. Regarding perception, it’s always a difference that you see. So that might be one of the reasons that it’s mostly empty places. And when I look at my new work it’s still like that.

MB I’m also interested in the levels of intimacy in the portraits. Who did you ask to photograph, and how well did you know them?

AT I can ask everyone basically. Some are people I met in the street and I took my time to talk with them. People I stopped were people I feel somehow connected to in a way I can’t express so I have to take a picture of them. That resolves the issue for me. There are also a lot of friends and family and with them it’s much more personal and a closer relationship. I tend to connect my personal life and the things that happen outside. Involving portraits of strangers and people I know and putting them together, it helps me a lot to pursue this relationship towards people.

5. Ali Taptik, from the series Kaza ve Kader, 2004-8.

AT Looking at these 3 works it has that sense but looking at the new series I’m doing, it gets closer than “accidents and fate” and maybe even “remembering me”. And I am interested in this proximity, in being close to things. It’s also the place where it starts to get dangerous if you involve you personal life a lot in your work, but if you can find a balance or if you can break this diary mode then it gets interesting. The photographers that I am influenced by always move from the very personal but then they say something that would mean something different to everyone, or that would mean something to everyone, basically.

MB Who are some of your influences?

AT I’m influenced a lot by Swedish photographers. That’s a result of my education. I had the chance to study with Anders Petersen. His way of approaching people is a major influence. He’s the person that taught me to approach people. There’s also a Turkish photographer living in Sweden. His name is Halil Koyuturk. He’s another person where the origin of my relationship towards people comes from. My favorite photographer is Boris Mikhailov. I’m just amazed that he’s not sticking to one kind of style. He’s doing all these different series. Sometimes it’s street photography, sometimes it’s very up close, very personal, diary-like series, sometimes conceptual, but the way he focuses on the similar subjects with different languages is amazing for me.

6. Ali Taptik, from the series Kaza ve Kader, 2004-8.

AT It’s always harder than Istanbul. In Istanbul I feel much more connected to what’s going on, to the reality around me. I see these residencies as a challenge. I have to get closer in a certain amount of time and it’s like practice. I work a lot in Marseille and I’m doing a "finish up" residency in January because it’s also one of these cities I feel connected to. I’ve visited it a lot of times and I think I can say something there as well.

MB What are the best and worst parts about being a young photographer in Istanbul?

AT The best part is that there are maybe 5 or 10 young photographers that are working to build up a scene and are producing a lot of good stuff. And it’s nice to be part of that. You have more visibility compared to a country where photography is very established. I get amazed every time I go to France or Italy or Sweden and there are so many good photographers. But Turkey is mostly represented through foreigners’ eyes, and now we have a chance to represent this reality that is around us by ourselves and we are much more connected to it, we understand it much better. That’s the good thing. The bad thing is generally a bad thing about being called a young photographer. I mean when does this end? When am I going to be a photographer, not a young photographer? When I’m 35? When is it going to happen? Like I said, lack of institutions or people that support photography is another major issue. But we tend to find our way around it. It’s a recent thing that galleries are interested in photography. And I’m amazed when I walk down the street and I see one new gallery opening every month. It’s just amazing. I think there will be a lot of spaces for young photographers in the future.

MB What are you working on next?

AT I am working on a series similar to “accidents and fate”. It started with this depression that now days seems to be the economic crisis, but actually this depression is so apparent in the city. It’s also what Orhan Pamuk talks about in the book Istanbul. “Hüzün”, you can translate it maybe as sadness. I’m exploring this feeling. It’s very connected to the recent economic events and the recent political events as well. And I’m just at the start. Recently I looked at what is going on and I made the first edit. Before that it was really about crisis and how it affects people, but now it’s getting out of that, towards a more general view of this time and that kind of depression. Not necessarily economic but more about the idea depression.

MB Do you have a dream project that you would like to work on someday?

AT I mean, my dream project, I’m doing it. It’s photographing everything in Istanbul, every, every, every single thing. I’m working on it, it’s slowly getting there. Sometimes it just makes me go out; “ok I haven’t photographed there yet.” It’s what keeps me going on. I am really attached. I’ve lived all my life in Istanbul and I’ve always lived in the center of the city so I have this strong connection.