Orçun Karamustafa © Anıl Arslan
Orçun Karamustafa © Çisem Soylu
About me:
Orçun Karamustafa was born in 1991. He currently resides and works in Istanbul. Focusing on street photography, he endeavors to capture the timelines of landscapes and create musical monographs through his photographs. He shares his work on Instagram, following the rules of the genre.
In 2024, a concert photograph was ranked in the top 6 percent among 2032 people, 85 countries, 660 cities and 10445 photographs by "35 Photo Professional Communities". In 2018, he was listed among the top 100 photographers among Turkey participants among 112,268 photographers worldwide by the same organization. In 2019, his photographs reached the second voting stage by the same organization and he was again listed among the top 100 Turkish photographers.
Between 2017 and 2019, Orçun worked on projects in the marketing department of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), specifically for the Istanbul Film, Music, Theater, Jazz Festivals, as well as the Istanbul Design and Istanbul Biennials. In 2019, as part of the "Kültür İçin Alan" (Space for Culture) projects, he visited Izmir and Diyarbakır, capturing photographs under this theme, which were later published in that year's book. He also directed a documentary film titled "Kalan." In 2021, he secured the second position in a competition organized by Kız Başına with a project named "Plastik Değilsen Bir Şey Yap" (Do Something If You're Not Plastic), addressing the climate crisis.
The same project was featured at the Vienna Porn Film Festival and Queer Museum Vienna in 2023 under the theme of eco-sexuality. Orçun also achieved second place in the "Farkında mısın?" (Are You Aware?) competition organized by the "Çöpüne Sahip Çık Vakfı" (Take Care of Your Trash Foundation), and one of his works was selected for exhibition.
Participating in the Juried Exhibition Photography Day Queer Edition 2022, organized by the Norwegian National Museum of Photography - Preus Museum, Orçun's photographs were displayed in Oslo, Belgrade, and the International Queer Film Festival Merlinka. His works were also showcased at the Vienna and Athens Porn Film Festivals, as well as at an exhibition in Athens titled "Civil Disobedience: fake or fact" in November 2023.
He organized his first queer-themed group photography exhibition in Istanbul at Saye Collective between 21 March and 5 April 2024. 5 of his photographs were included in the photography exhibition called 'What's Your Name?' and the exhibition as a whole emphasized the importance of people's existential struggle away from identification and labeling.
Orçun took on the role of promoting the Vienna Porn Film Festival for the Austrian television channel ORF and was appointed as the Director of Photography and Video for the 2024 edition of the festival. Additionally, one of his photographs was exhibited at the Turkey Pavilion of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale as part of the "HAYALET HİKÂYELERİ: Mimarlığın Çuval Teorisi" (GHOST STORIES: The Sack Theory of Architecture) project organized by IKSV.
He also contributed to Zeynel Günbek's album "Divan & Divine" by taking the album photos, and the album achieved recognition, ranking 31st among the top 200 albums worldwide in 2023.
Orçun created a promotional film for the Canlandıranlar Festival held from October 17-23, 2022, and documented the festival through photography. He edited the long-feature documentary film "Yüzüne Güvendik" for the centennial celebration of the Turkish Republic, capturing footage at the 1923 İzmir Women's Congress. He also participated in a pop art exhibition at Fırat Uran's book launch event on February 7, 2024, with three photographs.
Beyond photography, Orçun worked as an assistant director and editor for adult films such as "Turkish hammam," "Turskish cum," "Shibari Turk I," "Shibari Turk II," and "Naked Pianist." He served as an assistant director for Turkey's first gay series, "Kara Köpek."
Conducting a workshop titled "İmgenin Gizemi: Siyah Beyaz Fotoğraf" (The Mystery of Image: Black and White Photography) at the Pera Museum in 2023, Orçun also appeared as a guest on the "Nasıl fotoğrafçı oldum" (How I Became a Photographer) episode of the "Kısaca anlat" (Tell Me Briefly) podcast on Accesland Live.
Orçun Karamustafa continues his artistic pursuits, placing his struggle with life at the core of his work. In 2019, he established and continues to operate the communication agency .CO while simultaneously pursuing his career as an independent photographer.
News links:
https://artsandseptember.blogspot.com/2024/01/teneke-trampet-embracing-our-work-with.html?m=1
https://www.marketingturkiye.com.tr/kampanyalar/dogdu-gunesim/
https://www.artfulliving.com.tr/gundem/orcun-karamustafanin-fotograf-serisi-our-queens-merlinka-festivalinde-i-26748
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfPNFPNvYRQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
https://www.gazetekadikoy.com.tr/kultur-sanat/bizim-kizlar-sirbistan-yolcusu
https://artdogistanbul.com/pera-muzesi-fotograf-atolyeleri/
https://www.peramuzesi.org.tr/pera-ogrenme/atolye/imgenin-gizemi-siyah-beyaz-fotograf/4550
https://turkiyepavyonu23.iksv.org/hayalet-hikayeleri-konaklama-yapilari
https://www.farkindamisinyarismasi.org/sergi.html
https://accessland.live/event/event/10-bolum-nasil-fotografci-oldum-2384
https://artigercek.com/makale/unutunca-olecek-misin-247200
https://wannart.com/icerik/43366-canay-doganin-yeni-teklisi-darmadagin-yayinda
https://merlinka.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/katalog-queer-europe.pdf
https://kalendar.novisad2022.rs/en/events/queer-europe-3/
https://gayecho.com/news/otvaranje-izlozbe-kvir-evropa-u-novom-sadu/
https://www.meinbezirk.at/margareten/c-lokales/vernissage-und-prozente-fuer-nackte-maenner-bei-gayt_a5976376
https://athenspff.com/2023-2/festival-23/greek-short-2023/
https://nonstopkino.at/movies/pornights-nature-porn-shorts/
https://www.queermuseumvienna.com/ecosexuality-nature-porn-shorts-x-qmw-2/
https://avmag.gr/politiki-anypakoi-civil-disobedience-epistrefei-sto-hgw-std-gia-dyo-savvatokyriaka/
https://www.artfulliving.com.tr/gundem/queer-kimlikler-uzerine-whats-your-name-sergisi-i-29855
https://sanatokur.com/whats-your-name-sergisi-saye-kolektifte-aciliyor/,
https://cerezzine.com/orcun-karamustafadan-whats-your-name-sergisi-saye-kolektifte/
https://www.tv100.com/kimliklerin-sinirlarini-asan-bir-bulusma-orcun-karamustafadan-whats-your-name-sergisi-haber-741430
https://www.instagram.com/sanattanbihabervar/p/C4iHMDOoMOi/?img_index=1
https://esel.at/termin/123801/pffv-x-academy-of-fine-kink-new-intimate-horizons
https://www.dirensanat.com/2024/03/16/orcun-karamustafadan-whats-your-name-sergisi-saye-kolektifte-queer-kimlikler-uzerine/
https://www.oehakbild.info/finekink/pursuing-real-feelings/
https://heyzine.com/flip-book/siyahedergi-sayi2-emekveonur#page/4