Seeing people and the world through my eyes.

Merhaba.

You are probably here because you want to know something about me and my photography. So let's get right into it.

I was born, raised, and once again live in Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany, a local lad with Turkish roots. Photography has been with me for around thirty years, and it has long been more than a counterbalance: it is my way of making sense of the world.

My eye is drawn to people in the spaces they inhabit. Today, this is called street photography, I call it documenting the everyday. It takes me out into the world, to cities and places everywhere, always searching for what defines a place and its people. And I think and work in projects: one theme, one place, one question and then staying with it until something finished emerges. A series, an exhibition, a book. Leaving things unfinished is not my style.

One project has been with me for years: Istanbul and the notion of Hüzün, that collective melancholy you can see in the streets of the city, if you look long enough. My work has so far resulted in two photo books: Istanbul'um (Seltmann & Söhne, 2016) and Tales of Jerusalem (2019). A third book is currently in the making. I photograph with Leica, digital and film, and I regularly appear as a speaker at events and on podcasts about street and documentary photography.

When I am not photographing, I am a manager. Almost three decades in the telecommunications industry, with long-standing experience in leadership positions up to CEO level. What drives me is development: of people, of companies and of myself. And in the end, what matters to me is that something comes out of it. Looking closely, staying with it, delivering results, that is what connects both worlds.

If you would like to talk about either, or both, you can reach me via the contact form.

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