THE “DARK WORLD” OF YUCEL BASOGLU

Dear Yucel, thank you for accepting my invitation for this interview. It's a great honor to have you with us. How did your journey begin and which were your inspirations? I started to take at a tender age. I was mostly photographing of things I wanted to remember, but gradually became my passion. I started to read a lot on photographic techniques and on and equipment, though I have not received any special training. For a long time I was shooting in colour and later I started experimenting with long photographs too. Finally, I was attracted by the black & white, long exposure photographs I saw on the social media, and this helped me discover what I really wanted to do.

Who was Yucel before taking up Photography? Before taking up photography, Yucel was looking for a form of communication other than speech to express himself. In fact, I have always loved Painting, Music, sculpture and performing arts. But my life changed when I found photography.

You work almost exclusively in and the use of the long exposure technique is a common characteristic of your images. What are the reasons behind these choices? Before starting to shoot in Black & White, I always felt that something was missing; colorful photos were not enough to convey my feelings and to express myself. The day I took my first black and white long exposure photo, at the Black Sea shore on a stormy winter day, everything changed..! I don’t believe I can any longer shoot other images other than black and white.

A photographer is allowed to distort reality and present his work through the prism of his “vision” of the world. Your work is characterized by a prominent “dark” mood. Is this connected with your character or is it just an artistic choice?

I try to reflect my inner world in my studies, and this is why I am shooting in the most difficult weather conditions and in low light conditions. I love the atmosphere evoked by dark images. When I shared these works for the first time, I thought that they would not be appreciated, because they reflected my personal preferences. My aim is not toward producing the technicaly best long exposure image or to create a beautiful artistic image. I am only trying to create images that apeal to me.

You describe yourself as a fine art photographer. What does the term "Fine Art" mean to you?

I think that fine art is the sum of all arts stimulating excitement and admiration to people such as photography, literature, music, painting, sculpture, architecture, theater, and dance. The purpose here is not to show what is ideal and perfect; on the contrary, the emergence of works that will reflect the artist's inner world is the desired outcome. Most of the photographers I know, myself included, used to be inspired by or simply listen to some kind of music while processing their images. What music do you like and is there any connection with your work?

It has always been more attractive to listen to the sounds of wind and waves while taking my photos. However, I cannot concentrate without listening to music... Even though the music I listen to is dependent on my mood that day, I listen to a variety of music genres, namely Blues, Hard rock, Trance, Rap, Turkish folk and art music!

Do you think that photography should strive to depict reality or should it aim to create illusions as do other kind of ? And connected with this, how much effort do you put in postproduction?

I think photography should be natural. I want someone looking at my images to be able to feel an emotion without losing touch with the world. Even if some corrections are made during the editing stage, these do not lead to an abstract world.

While post-production sometimes takes only 1 or 2 hours, other times it lasts many days, as I can get very detail-focused. For example, I have a photo I took last summer that I like very much, but I don’t yet feel like sharing it – it just doesn’t seem ready to me.

You have a very active presence in social media and photography sites. Do you believe that their role is crucial for a photographer?

There was no internet when I took my first photographs, that’s why only I and my close circle got to see them. I, on the other hand, had the chance to see the amazing work of successful artists from around the world through the social media, and be inspired by it. Even more I had the opportunity to meet some of these artists in person. I think social media are an important tool for the development of all amateur photographers.

What do you think is the role of photography contests in the development of a photographer?

I for myself in the first place, and while I have received a lot of prizes from the competitions I have participated in, I do not consider them to be very important. This is not my ambition and I would not consider changing my technique for the shake of a competition. Some photographers only work for competitions, but I personally think this is wrong. On the other hand, competitions are a great opportunity to show your work to curators and the public, while on the same time are an important incentive for self- improvement and inspiration

Tell us a bit about your current projects and future plans.

I see my work as a single project, and every work I do is added to this project. So, my current theme "Dark Beauty" is in fact a continuation of my “A Never-Ending Project”.

I have been granted awards, I have been published in many magazines and books, and I have made exhibitions abroad, but unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to do a personal exhibition in my own country, in Istanbul. I hope to have this opportunity in the near future. Besides, I would like my long exposure studies to be included in a photography educational book.

What is your opinion of today’s trend in constantly searching for something new in photography?

We are living in a time, where the development of technology allows both photographs and their editing to be done on mobile phones. In short, everyone is a photographer. When we look at social media, we note an overflow of self-portraits. On the other hand, artistic works do not get the recognition they did in the past. In order to stand out, photographers try to attract attention by shooting new and different things. The problem is that the number of quality works is diminishing. It is not feasible for everybody to present new trends, while on the same time maintain a high quality level. It is absolutely desirable to try new things, but when doing this, we have to be honest about whether this is an internal artistic expression or an attempt to impress and collect more likes.

What is your favourite image of yours and why?

I have a lot of studies I like; this study of lake “Sapanca” close to Istanbul is one of them. Additionally, it was a special day and a beautiful memory, since my two sons – which I rarely meet these days, accompanied me to my photography outing. www.yucelbasoglu.com www.artlimited.net/yucel_basoglu www.behance.net/yucelbasoglu www.instagram.com/yucel_basoglu/ www.facebook.com/yucelbasogluphotography www.saatchiart.com/yucelbasoglu