Bookstores are now offering the latest volume of the Eczacıbaşı Photographers Series on İbrahim Zaman.

The Eczacıbaşı Photographers Series, published by the Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation, is the successor of the Eczacıbaşı Group's venerable tradition of photography publications. Every year, the series features the work of a prominent photographic artist from Turkey in a way that preserves the artistic integrity of the artist's work.

This retrospective starts at the beginning of İbrahim Zaman's life, when he was an apprentice at a photography studio, and looks at the great body of work he has produced since then. Having traveled all around Turkey and in 75 other countries with his camera in hand, İbrahim Zaman believes it is the photographer who creates the visual history of an era. This book offers viewers those moments when Zaman found the light he was looking for and pressed the shutter.

Designed by Bülent Erkmen and edited by Merih Akoğul, the Eczacıbaşı Photographers Series provides Turkish and English text.

“The Master of Divine Light”

Merih Akoğul, editor of the series, describes İbrahim Zaman, who started his photographic career at the age of 10, like this: İbrahim Zaman is like a contemporary ascetic monk who walks among us under the pretense of photography, holding a camera instead of a scepter. After listening to his life story and learning about all his suffering and struggles, it is certain that we will be viewing his photographs through a different lens altogether. In conclusion, I’d like to propose that he is “The Master of Divine Light” who has pledged to unite, in the here and now, humans with objects, the past with the future, and moments with memories.

60 years in pursuit of photography

İbrahim Zaman was born in Adapazarı in 1937. His father wanted him to become a tailor, but he chose instead to work as an apprentice at a photography studio at the age of 10. Later, when his family's financial troubles prevented him from attending the art institute that had accepted him, he made a fast start into his professional career as a photographer. In 1959, immediately after completing his military service, he opened Foto Zaman with partner, Hüsnü Gürsel. That was also the year that marked the start of Zaman's career as a photographic artist. In 1962 he set up his own business, Studio Saray, and, together with Hüsnü Gürsel, Naci Sevinç, Mümtaz Ertürer, Hayri Yazıcıgil and later Cemal Turgay, he established the legendary photography group, "Group 5", and began to take part in annual exhibitions of their work.

İbrahim Zaman held a highly successful, first solo exhibition, titled "Pigeons", in Istanbul in 1967. The same year a devastating earthquake hit his home town of Adapazarı, demolishing his home and studio. Zaman decided to move to Istanbul to restart his professional career and opened a studio in Bakırköy.

Zaman believes a photographer must go where the photograph is to be found, so he has traveled and taken photos in 75 countries around the world. He is a founding member of the Amateur Photographers Association of Adapazarı (AFAK), established in 1970, and he has won more than 150 awards in photography competitions. An eminent member of Turkey's photographic art world, İbrahim Zaman has dedicated 60 years of his life thus far to this art form.