Ode To Istanbul
Åžule GazioÄŸlu Art & Design Gallery presents Ode to Istanbul, a solo exhibition by photographer Annette Louise SolakoÄŸlu.
The exhibition features a series of primarily black-and-white photography created by SolakoÄŸlu over the past fifteen years. Istanbul’s architecture and daily life is the central theme of the exhibition curated by Åžule GazioÄŸlu.
SolakoÄŸlu walks the streets of Istanbul capturing the beauty of the city's architecture and its people through her lens, showing us its diversity —sometimes picturesque and urban, at times nostalgic and historic.
The legacy of the deep and complex history of Istanbul is woven into the architectural fabric of the modern city. It is an everchanging city of beauty and chaos, of contrasting ideologies and cultures, its rich past coexisting alongside its youthful exuberance. Going about their daily lives between splendor and neglect, elegance and provinciality, past and modernity, Istanbulites are particularly skilled at finding a place to rest and take pleasure. Even in the most chaotic surroundings, one’s eye searches for a certain beauty, a romantic escape, for a light amongst the gloominess of the everyday experiences of hardship.
With images expressing great sensitivity, the exhibition welcomes Istanbul's dichotomy and the perplexing structure of the city as it is, praising its historical backstage, as well as paying tribute to its newly built spaces such as AKM, Arter and Galataport as part of the city’s architectural ecosystem, echoing its past, witnessing its evolution.
Inspired by the works of Orhan Veli, Nazım Hikmet, and others, Solakoğlu brings a lyrical meditation to her images:
“Observation and timing are the key aspects of my work. I was seeking a quiet poetry in the streets of Istanbul to elevate the fleeting everyday to a status of timelessness”.
A recipient of the Human Rights in Cinema Award at the 21st Istanbul International Film Festival, SolakoÄŸlu came to photography as a filmmaker. Thinking like a storyteller, her photography takes the viewer beyond still frames; it leads us on a mental journey through moments we all may have experienced.
It allows us to relive our own stories set in familiar places. SolakoÄŸlu’s photographs show great affection and regard for the city and its people and prompt the viewer to further contemplate their personal relationship with Istanbul’s architectural heritage and their vision for its future.
Ode To Istanbul,
runs at Sule Gazioglu Art & Design Gallery, Emirgan,
from October 20th to November 20th.
Annette Louise SolakoÄŸlu,
is a Swedish-German photographer and filmmaker based in New York.
Her work has been published and exhibited at museums and galleries internationally and has received numerous awards. She won a 2020 IPA Silver Award and was the recipient of the 2020 Julia Margaret Cameron Award in the self-portrait category.
Her most recent portraiture series, Faces/Graces, was exhibited in a solo exhibition at the Balter Gallery, Garrison Art Center, New York. The series was acquired by the Putnam History Museum for its permanent collection. Over the past decade, Annette taught at Vassar College and Boston University. She graduated from Berlin University of the Arts, Germany, and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in film from Boston University.