Ara Güler ‘Who Writes History with His Camera’ Loses His Life

* Photographs: Ahmet Sel - Anadolu Agency

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Photojournalist Ara Güler has lost his life at the age of 90.

It has been announced that Güler, who was brought to hospital due to a heart condition and taken into intensive care unit, died around 11.30 p.m. yesterday (October 17).

Doctor Zafer Gökay stated, "He responded to the resuscitation for three times in the emergency service and two times in the intensive care unit; however, we could, unfortunately, not resuscitate him in the third time. I am sorry for our loss. It is entirely heart failure."

His body was taken from the hospital, where he lost his life, early in the morning and brought to Beyoğlu Üç Horan (Yerrortutyun) Armenian Church.

"Not everyone knows that I am Armenian"

Ara Güler was born with the name Aram Güleryan. Her mother was an Armenian who was born in İstanbul while his father was an Armenian who was born in Şebinkarahisar.

In an interview that he gave in 2013, he answered the question, "Did you have hardships because you are an Armanian" by saying, "No, I did not. Not everyone knows that I am an Armenian."

"I am not a photographer, but a photojournalist"

In one of his interviews, Güler also referred to himself as follows:

"I am a photojournalist. I am not a photographer. I am definitely not an artist. I take the photographs of what I see. I do not perform art. I convey what I see as quite natural to people. It is called photojournalism.

"There is a big difference between a photographer and a photojournalist. Photojournalist is the man who goes to the bomb when a bomb explodes. Photojournalist is the man who writes history with his camera."

About Ara Güler

Ara Güler was born on August 16, 1928 in İstanbul.

He started journalism at Yeni İstanbul (New İstanbul) Newspaper in 1950 while he was a student at the Faculty of Economics of İstanbul University.

In 1958, he worked for the Time-Life and Der Stern magazines. In 1953, he met Henri Cartier Bresson and joined the Paris Magnum Agency.

He was named one of the best 7 photographers of the world by the "Photography Annual Anthology", which was published in the UK. In the same year, he was accepted to the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) as the only person from Turkey.

In 1962, he assumed the title of "Master of Leica" in Germany. In 1970, his photograph album entitled "Türkei" was also published in the country.

For the book "Picasso Metamorpose et unite", which was published by Skira Publishing House on the occasion of Picasso's 90th birthday, he did a photo-interview of the painter.

In 1979, he received the first prize in the category of "Photojournalism" awarded by the Journalists' Association of Turkey (TGC).

He did interviews with and took photographs of a vast number of people including İsmet Inönü, Winston Churchill, Indira Gandhi, John Berger, Bertrand Russel, Bill Brandt, Alfred Hitchcock, Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Salvador Dali and Picasso.

The most famous of all was the one with Picasso, who did not pose.

His book, where he photographed the works of Sinan the Architect, was published in France, the US and the UK with the title "Sinan, Architect of Soliman the Magnificent" in 1992.

In the same year, his book called "Living in Turkey" was published in the UK, the US and Singapore with the title "Turkish Style" and in France with the title "Demeures Ottomanes de Turquie."

The photographs of Ara Güler are at the Paris National Library and in the Nebraska University Sheldon Collection of the Rochester Georg Eastman Museum in the US. His photographs are also being exhibited at the Das Imaginare Photo Museum in Cologne Museum Ludwig.

A museum of Ara Güler has also been recently opened in İstanbul. (EKN/SD)

* Sources: Official website of Ara Güler and Agos newspaper