Ara Güler

The Turkish master Ara Güler, named one of the seven best photographers in the world by the British Journal of Photography Yearbook and awarded the prestigious title of "Master of Leica", arrives in Rome with a monographic exhibition dedicated to his black and white shots. The Roman stage arrives at the Museum of Rome in Trastevere, after the exhibitions at the Saatchi Gallery in London, the Polka Gallery in Paris, the Tofukuji Temple in Kyoto, as part of the G-20 summit, and the Alexander Hamilton Custom House in New York in conjunction  with the UN General Assembly, before continuing its journey in Mogadishu.
The exhibition is largely composed of the photographs of Istanbul taken by Ara Güler from the 1950s, a fundamental period in which he was recruited by Henri Cartier-Bresson for the Magnum Agency and became correspondent for the Near East before for Time Life in 1956, and then for Paris Match and Stern in 1958. The 45 black and white views of the city on display will constitute a precious testimony of a humanity now almost erased from memory and will be joined by a 37 images section dedicated to portraits of important personalities from the world of art, literature, science and politics: from Federico Fellini to Sophia Loren, from Bernardo Bertolucci to Antonio Tabucchi, from Pope Paul VI to Winston Churchill.

Ara Güler was "a global brand" for his profession in all respects - declares President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - As a proof of his prowess, with his camera he immortalized all the most important characters of the last 65 years, who have left an indelible mark on our collective memory with their political struggles, their leadership as statesmen, their ideas, their art and their sensitivity. The whole nation is proud to see his photographs, taken during his long career from 1950 until his last breath, still on display today in the most prestigious sections of exhibitions and collections in every corner of the world.

Ara Güler's artistic journey putting Istanbul, the city where he was born and raised, at the center of his life and his art, contains a synthesis of our recent history. We will always remember him with profound respect as one of the most edifying testimonies of the figure of the "true artist" in our country, with his original, compelling and prolific language, free from any form of bigotry.