A four-day touring photography workshop in İstanbul held in historical parts of the city began on Friday under the direction of UK photographer Peter Sanders, who has conducted similar tours in the UK, Kuwait, Malaysia and Indonesia.
After photographing rock stars in London in the 1960s, Sanders has photographed more than 40 countries since the 1970s and published books such as “In the Shade of the Tree” and “The Art of Integration, Islam in England’s green and pleasant land.” What he finds fascinating about Turkey and in particular İstanbul, he says, is how international it is, “and as a Westerner you can feel extremely comfortable here. But under the surface, there is a deep tradition and a great respect for the sacred, which gives the country and its people strength and dignity.”
He has visited Turkey frequently over the past couple of years; he believes there is such a wealth of culture, architecture and history. “I find the country to be developing politically and economically. Geographically, it’s a great place to be. I had a good friend of mine who was working here and he had suggested for many years that I should hold a workshop in İstanbul. By chance, I met the director of the İstanbul Design Centre and he invited us to hold the workshop there. This seemed the perfect opportunity and the perfect place,” he says during an interview with Today’s Zaman.
The four-day event features master classes including various topics such as importance of perfect exposure, light and shadow, portrait photography and understanding color. “The usual structure is there are a series of master classes in the mornings. It could be something like ‘Paparazzi, reportage or the silent observer,’ to get the students to think about what kind of photographer they are or it could be ‘Photographing what cannot be seen,’” explains Sanders.
In the afternoon, the group goes to locations such as Eyüp, Fatih, Sultanahmet, Balat, Piyerloti and Cihangir and Sanders sets themes for the students to try to capture. “We gather back and begin to edit the material and critique it as a group. With the last workshop, which had 30 students from 11 different countries, we ended up with a great photographic exhibition that can be seen in İstanbul Design Centre,” he says.
The main purpose of the workshop is to encourage people to look at creation differently. “This is why we have titled it ‘The Art of Seeing.’ Modern-day tourists seem to rush into places, click click, then leave and look at the pictures when they return home. I wanted our students to experience the places first, before they took their pictures,” Sanders says, adding that he wants really to feel the essence of the places they visit and the spirituality of the people they meet.
According to the photographer, although a lifetime is not long enough to understand photography completely, one has to be prepared to discipline oneself. “You can learn the technical side of photography from the Internet or books, but what is harder to understand is what Henry Cartier Bresson calls ‘the decisive moment’,” he explains.
Sanders also says that he would like to do one or two workshops in İstanbul a year on a regular basis and make strong ties with likeminded artists or organizations. “I feel passionately about the need for art and creativity in the lives of young people,” he adds.
For more information, visit www.artofseeingistanbul.com and www.petersanders.co.uk.
(Today’s Zaman)
