By Heidi Trautmann

The First Lady, Meral Eroğlu made one of her rare appearances in the art scene again to open the exhibition of the XXIII. Photo Competition with 26 participants determined worth of exhibiting. Three of them had been awarded the first three prizes: Muharrem Amcazade, Neray Oykan and Yılmaz Akgünlü. Many of the participating art photographers were old acquaintances of the scene, masters of the art with awards in similar local or international competitions:

Zümral Hasanoğlu, Süleyman Candar, Giray Karahasan, Mustafa Evirgen, Fergün Tevfik Ulual, Süleyman Kaplan, Yıltan Taşçı, Lisani Otağ, Gülden Gün, Neray Oykan,Berkiye Gürcan, Mehmetali Karahasan, Yılmaz Akgünlü, Hasan Bağlar, Rabia Küçük, Hüseyin Sayıl, Nurperi Özgener, Ebru Derviş, Mehmet Gökyiğit, Mustafa Müezzinoğlu, Muharrem Amcazade, Muazzez Tokatlıoğlu,  Duyal Tüzün, Mine Türkelman,  Buket Özatay, Ebru Uskan Akçalı.

Landscapes and landscapes of faces are still welcome themes, macro shots of flowers and animals, architecture photos, light and shade, but according to my humble opinion it is the shots that are taken from life, that I think proves the professional, the one who is always ready to make the shot when something extraordinary crosses his way, or rather his eyes. Composition is very important and the technical details such as sharpness of line or depth and finally the philosophy, or let’s say the language. Photography is a very popular form of …..art, I mean it can be art if properly done and with experience, or with the eye of an artist. Today you can beautify a photo taken and make a piece of art from it by using electronic programmes, although many say, this is not art, but I think, that art starts in your head and not at the tip of the brush or the button on your camera. However it is, as long as you use your senses fully, you will be able to do something precious. That is love of life.