Fourteen photographers are presented in a July 2026 exhibition at Die Akt Galerie Berlin, accompanied by an English-language photobook and texts by three project contributors.
(WorldFrontNews Editorial):- Berlin, Germany Jun 2, 2026 (Issuewire.com) – Berlin-based photographer and curator Burak Bulut Yildirim has announced The Nudes of Istanbul, a new photography exhibition and accompanying English-language hardcover photobook opening at Die Akt Galerie Berlin from 3 to 19 July 2026.
The project presents fourteen photographers selected from a long-term curator-directed studio practice developed in Istanbul over fourteen years. Five of the participating photographers are women. The accompanying photobook includes photographs, a foreword and extended curatorial essay by Yildirim, and texts by three project contributors writing from inside the practice: Zeynep Renda, Su Yesil and Marmelat.
Rather than presenting a conventional group show, the exhibition and publication bring together a sustained record of artistic collaboration, photographic authorship, studio research and visual production. The project was developed through repeated studio sessions, constructed sets, lighting structures, material experiments and a shared commitment to serious photographic practice.
The participating photographers are Adem Tayfun Eser, Burak Ozcan, Ibrahim Cem Ozoral, Didem Ergezer, Enis Onur, Mehmet Akif Yalin, Mehmet Naci Demirkol, Mertkan Hergul, Meryem Aydin, Neslihan Bilginer, Nevra Topalismailoglu, Ozan Dengiz, Selda Bal Cosar and Umut Altun.
The English-language hardcover photobook is conceived as an autonomous publication rather than a standard exhibition catalogue. It extends the project beyond the gallery space and positions the work within a broader context of contemporary photography, visual culture and art-book circulation. The publication includes curatorial writing, project texts, selected visual categories and a structured presentation of fourteen years of photographic production.
The six editorial sections of the book are Surface, Matter, Opacity, Rooms, Duration and Self-Possession. These categories provide a framework for reading the works through form, material presence, spatial construction, time, visual tension and personal agency within the image.
The three written contributions form an important part of the publication. Zeynep Renda writes from inside a long-term modelling and self-portrait practice, addressing trust, professional boundaries and the experience of working within photographic production. Su Yesil writes through lived experience, movement, performance, gendered norms and the relationship between self-perception and image-making. Marmelat, writing under a chosen pseudonym, contributes a text connected to the rarely documented labour of modelling within a fine arts faculty in Turkey.
“For fourteen years, this project developed through sustained studio work in Istanbul, with photographers, contributors, materials, lighting structures and repeated visual decisions,” said Burak Bulut Yildirim, curator of the project. “The Berlin exhibition and the photobook allow this long-term practice to enter a wider cultural and international context.”
Die Akt Galerie’s focus on artistic photography makes it a precise Berlin venue for the project’s first public presentation. The exhibition also creates a cultural connection between Istanbul and Berlin, bringing a long-term photographic practice developed in one city into public circulation in another.
The exhibition will take place at Die Akt Galerie, Krossener Str. 34, 10245 Berlin, Germany, from 3 to 19 July 2026. The opening will be held on Friday, 3 July 2026 at 19:00. Gallery hours are Friday to Sunday, 15:00 to 19:00. Admission is free.
More information is available at:
https://burakbulut.org/the-nudes-of-istanbul
ABOUT BURAK BULUT YILDIRIM
Burak Bulut Yildirim is a Berlin-based photographer and curator whose long-term practice examines light, surface, form and figurative representation. Active since 2005, he works across fine-art photography, exhibition-making, publication projects and image-led curatorial research. For this project, he serves as curator, editor of the accompanying publication, and author of the book’s foreword and extended curatorial essay.
MEDIA CONTACT
Burak Bulut Yildirim
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://burakbulut.org
Berlin, Germany
