IT was his photograph of Tennessee Williams, taken in 1955 which made me fall in love with this astounding man and photographer.
That nonchalant pose, barefoot, holding a cigarette, deep, striking eyes and half-smirk; as if there are lurid secrets he gleefully took to his grave. And that suit, that suit!
When Ara took this particular photograph, he said, “One day in 1955, I came across the name Tennessee Williams in the hotel register of the Istanbul Hotel.
“I had discovered ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ in a local theatre the year before. Suavi Tedu was the actor playing the role that Marlon Brando was later to make famous in the cinema.
“Like many, I was moved by the freedom of the play’s language. The author drew me in. Without worrying, I knocked on the door of his hotel room, no: 512. His shirt was open, hair unkempt, and that’s how he was when I first took his picture. There were many more to come.”
In his lifetime, Ara took almost a million photographs: moving, beautifully painful and melancholic depictions of a foregone Istanbul. His works are now archived in a private museum in Istanbul.
Ara Güler was born on August 16, 1928. The son of a pharmacist who was an ardent member of the art fraternity, this Turkish photojournalist grew up surrounded by art, and this experience prompted him to pursue a career in films and cinema.
He wet his beak working in various studios and enrolled to study drama under the tutelage of Turkish stage actor and director Muhsin Ertuğrul.
Ara later decided to focus on journalism and became a photojournalist with the Turkish publication, Yeni Istanbul in 1950 whilst pursuing his studies in Economics at the University of Istanbul.
Ara was well on his way to becoming a legend: working with Time-Life as a correspondent when the American publication set up office in Turkey in 1958.
Commissioned work started to pour in with the Sunday Times in London, Paris Match, Stern and Hayat, of which he was head photographer.
It was not surprising that his path would cross with Henri Cartier-Bresson and Marc Riboud, and he soon became a member of Magnum Photos.
Not much later, Ara was honoured as the first Turkish photojournalist of the American Society of Magazine Photographers.
The list is long and almost endless: the Museum of Modern Art in New York exhibited his works in Ten Masters of Colour Photography in 1968, his works were widely displayed in Photokina, Germany, and just two years later, a collection of his works were compiled in a book, ‘Türkei’.
His preference for photography as the only way to contemplate reality, documenting people and places, “recording” emotions and souls makes Ara one of the most unforgettable artists the world has known. His death in 2018 at age 90 was mourned deeply, but his legacy endures.
Perhaps, these incredible qualities was what prompted gallery owner Patrice Vallette to not only work with Ara in 2015, but to form a friendship which the former welcomed with open arms.
They sat for hours at Ara Cafe, where people lined up to catch a glimpse of this larger-than-life man, and queued for hours to get his autograph.
In 2019, Patrice mounted an exhibition at the Nabshi Center, in Iran. ‘Ara Guler, Memoir of a Lost History’ was also accompanied by a book of the same name. The photographs displayed were meticulously chosen by Ara, and curated in such a way so viewers were able to fully immerse themselves in works from the 1950s onwards.
Patrice recalls, “I remember meeting him for the first time on a Thursday afternoon at Ara Cafe. He was a man like no other, and we spoke about life, passions, our opinions of the world, and of course, on photography.
“It was love, mutual respect and enthusiasm which brought us together. I immediately wanted to exhibit his works, and we spent many days, weeks and months selecting images.
“He knew exactly what he wanted, and working alongside Ara was a priceless experience.”
The exhibition featured more than 150 photographs – Ara at various stages in his life, many images taken with his beloved Leica 21mm.
‘Memoir of a Lost History’ brought audiences through a time-tunnel – the storyteller though gone, his spirit roams free, taking every one through his travels to The United States, France, Kenya, Borneo, Iran; his encounters with Picasso, Dali, Chagall, Aragon, Hitchcock and countless others.
He was equally comfortable with the man on the street as he was with artists, intellectuals, scientists, politicians and Royalty.
His camera spoke a language which is oecumenical – there are no borders to his genius.
On the 16th of December last year, Patrice, through his Company Visioncy, painstakingly put together a virtual exhibition of Ara’s works.
'Ara Güler Universal' is testament to a man who spent his life photographing the world in every possible way; the desolate, the drunk, children playing on the street, workers at the docks, people at their most vulnerable, no one is spared.
The Eye of Istanbul, the visual historian, the man who enjoys life’s simple pleasures is that rarity, a singular ‘voice’ who made complex subjects graspable and vice-versa.
‘In Memoir of a Lost History’, photojournalist and film/ documentary producer Coskun Aral reminisces, “When I think of my early childhood in Siirt, I realise that they are mostly about poverty.
“My parents wanted me to survive after they had lost two children born before me, so I was sent to live in my aunt’s home in Istanbul, with a day-long trip from Siirt.
“The traumas of one’s childhood, some could get over it, some not, and some choose not to. I now have peace in my inner world, and so is our world with Ara.
“On the far southeast corner of Turkey, I met Ara when I was literally a child through his interviews in Life magazine. At the time we had no ‘windows’ to the world outside and it was Ara who took me to places I have never been, or imagined.
“Who could have known (other than myself) I would some day follow his footsteps? It was unbelievable, we met in 1975 when I was on a trolley bus in Galatasaray, Istanbul and Ara got on the same vehicle. He said to the conductor, ‘I am the photojournalist Ara Guler’ and showed his press card which is the same as a ticket.
“I walked towards him, so thrilled I could barely say a word. But before I could reach him, this man I profusely admired stepped out.’’
Coskun saw him again two years later, determined to do so by increasing his chances of an encounter by way of employment at the Anka Agency where Ara also worked.
They exchanged a few words but the real meeting was in 1977.
The year was a bloodbath – “Bloody Mary 1st” in Turkey, the day more than 40 people were gunned down, followed by a stampede and finally, the intervention of security forces.
Coskun documented what he could, and the photos were published worldwide.
Ara rang him after seeing Coskun’s images in Life magazine. Coskun became his student and a close friend until Ara’s death.
Ara Guler changed the world – he made us see, to really look at ourselves and others.
Visiting the virtual exhibition, we are made acutely aware of cultural postures, civilised and uncivilised significance and eccentricities.
This exhibition is by no means the authoritative works of Ara, but it is stunningly anecdotic, magnified by the man whose vision and raw truth bites until one bleeds no more. – The Vibes, January 10, 2021
Link to Ara Guler Universal Virtual Exhibition: www.visioncy.org
.jpg)
