Film director and photographer Nuri Bilge Ceylan's photo exhibition, "Turkey Cinemascope," will be showcased for the first time at the National Reinsurance Art Gallery. The photographs, captured by Ceylan over the past four years, will be displayed at the National Reinsurance Art Gallery as part of the 26th International Istanbul Film Festival, following exhibitions in Thessaloniki and London. The "Turkey Cinemascope" exhibition will be open to art enthusiasts from April 3 to 28, 2007.

The world premiere of the exhibition took place during the 47th Thessaloniki Film Festival, where a collective screening of Nuri Bilge Ceylan's films was held from November 17 to December 3, 2006, under the title "Turkey Cinemascope." Reflecting on the formation of the exhibition, Nuri Bilge Ceylan explains, "Most of these photographs were taken during location scouting trips for my latest film, 'Climates.' Initially, I wasn't working with the intention of opening an exhibition. However, I found myself accumulating quite a few photographs. When the Thessaloniki Film Festival expressed interest in having a collective screening of my films, I thought it might be a good idea to exhibit these photographs there."

The exhibition, held in the historic Bedesten Bazaar in Thessaloniki dating back to the Ottoman era and curated by Marion Inglessi, received favorable reviews in the Greek and European press. The news about the exhibition in Thessaloniki was later announced in London: "The breathtaking photographs of Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, whose magnificent film 'Climates' we will soon witness. These colorful and cinemascope-scaled photographs, focusing on Turkey, are transformed into a mysterious and dreamlike tableau, rightly compared to the mystical paintings of Pieter Brueghel by a critic." (Robert Bergan, The Guardian, October 27, 2006).

"It might sound odd for a film festival write-up, but I must confess that the most exciting thing I saw at the Thessaloniki Film Festival was this exhibition of extraordinary photographs by this relatively young Turkish artist... If everything goes as planned, the exhibition will be repeated in London just before the release of the film 'Climates.' Be prepared to be amazed." (Geoff Andrew, Time Out, November 30, 2006).

Following its display in Thessaloniki, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's photo exhibition was presented at the National Gallery in London. Londoners, who had previously become acquainted with Nuri Bilge Ceylan through his film "Distant," which had been screened in the UK, now got to know him through his photographs just before the UK release of "Climates," which won the International Critics' Award at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

In an article titled "Visual Sensitivity," Sight and Sound magazine evaluated the exhibition as follows: "Nuri Bilge Ceylan's cinema is complemented by photographs distinguished by tranquil and mystical beauty. Therefore, learning that he also takes photographs did not surprise us... The distinctive visual quality of Ceylan's photographs also comes from his use of durable special cotton paper and pigment-based inks, as well as covering the photographs with archival-quality special water-based varnishes.

Thus, the colors and textures of the photographs become extraordinarily rich. But the true visual impression comes from his framing intuition. The photographs reminded me of Turner, Lowry, and even Ford Maddox Brown's painting 'The Last England.' Ceylan says that here he is looking for locations for his film rather than documenting his country. However, the visual balance of the curved road, the light plays of the rural road, the striking perspective of those playing football, and the measured sense of compassion in portraits like two sisters and a shepherd all show that we are dealing with an important talent."

In conjunction with Nuri Bilge Ceylan's photo exhibition, the National Reinsurance Art Gallery is publishing a promotional booklet with the support of AVEA. In his writing, Levent Çalıkoğlu describes the exhibition as follows: "Many people who contemplate on photography can quickly agree on this simple logical game: Despite being a record of the past we've lost, a photograph fills us with the idea that it could be a new time embedded in the present. In fact, it's not about letting what we see stay in the past; it's about the pleasant feeling that there is another time enveloping us with happiness every time we look at the photographs. Therefore, we love photographs because they allow us to live in another time. Looking at photographs is the quickest way to reach the now we are constantly in. Perhaps you've never thought about it, but photographers themselves do this too. They take photographs to remember, to flow into another time beyond the present, but still to be within the present. I believe that Nuri Bilge Ceylan took these shots with this sentiment."

The exhibition can be visited at the National Reinsurance Art Gallery from April 3 to 28, 2007.