Faruk Akbas

Biography:
One of Turkey’s travel and documentary photographer, Faruk Akbas, has worked in many countries around the world for the last 30 years. He has published photos and written photo essays continuously for Photo Journal and has worked as a visual editor for the Travel Magazine. His photographs have been published in many journals, newspapers, and magazines such as National Geographic, Hurriyet, Cumhuriyet, the Daily Telegraph, and Skylife. Akbas is a brand ambassador for an international outdoor clothing company. Akbas is also the leader for the photography trips organized by Gazella Tourism in many different countries around the world.

Akbas completing photo projects sponsored by Fujifilm and ISUZU, has also organized photo trips to Asian and African countries by road from Turkey (Yellow Bus). The documentaries that he shot on those trips, were released by TRT and Trace TV under the name “Journey Away”. He was a guest on shows “Reflection” on TRT, and “Two Eyes One City” on Trace TV. He shot the documentary “Unique Clothings of Anatolia”. He did the photo footage and film tests for Nokia cell phones in Turkey and Nepal. His works were also included in the international photo exhibition by L’ Oréal. Currently, Akbas is working for TRT’s documentary channel on a photo documentary program called “Capture the Moment”.

He founded Fotografevi where photo organizations are held and Kayakoy Art Camp. Akbas served as a jury member in various photography and documentary film competitions; he has also taken fashion, automotive and tourism photographs and shot promotional films for domestic and foreign clients. He participated by invitation from the Chinese Federation in photo festivals in the country. For a while, he gave lessons in photography and documentary film-making at Hacettepe University and Mediterranean University. He has received numerous awards from competitions including the first place prizes from the Abdi Ipekci “Friendship – Peace”, the Human Rights Association, the British Cultural Association, the Turkish Chamber of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture, and the National Geographic, and a letter of thanks from the Queen of England. He was selected as a member of Fujifilm X- Photographers.

His photographs of natural, cultural and historical life value have been used by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, and institutions and organizations such as Eczacibasi in Turkey prestige books. In addition to these photograph albums and books, Akbas has also published books such as Digital World Photography, Practical Composition in Photography, Studies in Photography Techniques, Turkey Photo Guide, Travel Photography, and Photo Mobile (mobile phone photography), among others.

Exhibition: Kayaköy
Kayakoy with its architecture, narrow streets, churches and nature with an impressive atmosphere is a former Greek village. Going to Ölüdeniz from Fethiye, when you come to the resort town of Hisaronu, follow the signs to Karymlassos . At the end of a five -kilometer road, you will encounter the ruins of the houses lining the entire length of a steep slope. Without blocking the sunlight from one another, these stone structures lined up with respect to each other, form the interesting historical fabric of the region.

The first traces of Kayakoy is from Karymlassos, a city of the ancient Lycian civilization. According to some sources Kayaköy was built in the 11th century, according to other sources it was built in the 14th century, on the ruins of the Lycian civilization by Greeks living in the area. Mentioned also in Evliya Celebi’s “Travelogue” and known with the Greek name Levissi, Karakoy is known to have survived as a prosperous city until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1912, with its population of 6500, and with its churches, pharmacies, hospitals and doctors, schools, and post offices, and craft shops; it was the largest social and commercial center of the region. There was also a printing house in the village, which produced the South Aegean’s most powerful newspaper “Karya ” .

Anatolian Greeks as they were good investors would not build houses in the fertile land but build homes in the surrounding rocky areas. Kayaköy typifies this understanding and was built in this way. The Panaghia Pyrgiotissa neighborhood church in the lower parts of the city and the Taksiyarhis Church in the higher parts of the city are still standing. Contrary to those churches, it is seen that approximately two thousand stone houses, chapels, various workshops, schools, hospital buildings, libraries and other buildings have been able to survive the physical conditions of time to the present day. Despite this, the stone roads, squares, the fire corners of houses, stone quarries, spiral toilets, cisterns and cobble stone roads demonstrate to the visitor the city’s cultural richness.

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