Pablo Picasso reportedly once said, “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
With this in mind, we are pleased to announced a new feature of HuffPost Arts: Instagram Spotlight. We just love the youth-centric iPhone feature that turns amateurs into artists with the click of a button. Instagram reminds us that even those who aren’t working artists still have a vision worth sharing, and HuffPost Arts wants to provide a platform to these photographers who are moved by beautiful moments. We will be featuring our favorite gems on the site along with their stories and inspirations, and will continue to scour the web for budding photographers. If you think this could be you, keep being creative and we will find you!
Today we are featuring the hypnotizing works of Ciler Gecici, a musical manager from Istanbul.
HP: Tell us about where are you from and what is your ‘day job’. Are you a professional photographer, or is photography just a hobby for you?
CG: I live in İstanbul and I am the musical manager of a well-known live music venue that has been running for 20 years. After music, photography became the most fulfilling hobby for me. In fact I’d like it to be more than a hobby and I’d love to include it more into my life and do some work about it in the near future.
HP: When did you start using your phone as a camera?
CG: I started using the iPhone camera the day I bought my iPhone . I’ve been a Blackberry user for a long time and it’s safe to say that I switched to iPhone for its camera and the variety of applications for editing the photos.
HP: Has there ever been a moment you were especially happy to have had your cameraphone handy?
CG: I can capture a lot of moments because I have my phone with me all the time. I keep my phone easy accesible in my pocket so that I’m ready to shoot and not miss any moments.
HP: Who are your favorite people you follow on Instagram?
CG: There are a lot of people I follow with interest but my favourite users are: civilking, mustafaseven, tonydetroit, cizenbayan, amiranas and dariszcahyadi, jennyhendra.
İstanbul is the capital of culture and arts in Turkey. Most of the cultural activities take place in İstanbul. Even so I find goverment’s support on arts and artists very insufficient. İstanbul is a 3000-year-old city abounded with history. As I live in this city, I feel the history, layers and textures as an evidence that has been lived here through centuries. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that I’m in love with the city I live in. We continue to live with the traces, remnants, of the people from different ethnic backgrounds who lived here in harmony, and civilizations which vanished because of wars and politics. In this city you can still experience a church, a mosque and a synagoge, shoulder to shoulder, in the same lot.
HP: What are your favorite galleries in Istanbul? If you could show your work anywhere in the world… where would you want it to be?
CG: SALT, C.A.M. and Antrepo 3 in İstanbul Modern are my favorite galleries in İstanbul. I would really like my work to be shown in MoMA, where the best examples of contemporary photography exhibitions take place.
HP: What is your favorite thing about the city?
After walking around the city to take photographs, it’s one of my favourite things about the city and it’s almost a privilege to be able to watch Golden Horn and Bosphorus views and eat fish accompanied by rakı with friends.
See some work from Gecici below:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/instagram-spotlight_n_1257633?ref=arts#s667287
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