Istanbul Modern hosts renowned Turkish photographer İzzet Keribar’s solo exhibition from Nov 6 to May 25, 2025. The exhibition titled ‘Journey of Colors’ features 125 photographs by Keribar. With an archive of nearly 1.5 million images, İzzet Keribar (b. 1936) has spent decades capturing the intricate interplay of color, light, and texture, creating compositions defining his career. Curated by Demet Yıldız Dinçer, the exhibition spans six thematic sections, each exploring distinct periods and subjects within Keribar’s extensive body of work.
The first section offers glimpses into the 1950s, focusing on Istanbul’s dynamic street life and early documentation of urban and rural scenes in South Korea. Moving forward in time, the second section captures the everyday life of Istanbul neighborhoods starting in the 1980s, allowing viewers to witness the city’s cultural and social evolution through Izzet Keribar’s lens.
The third and fourth sections delve into landscapes, both natural and urban, revealing İzzet Keribar’s ability to elevate the “ordinary” into the “extraordinary” with his mastery of natural light. These images, taken during his travels throughout Türkiye and abroad, capture the quiet beauty of diverse environments. Portraits from around the world form the fifth section, showcasing a more intimate side of İzzet Keribar’s work, while the sixth and final section presents his unique, semi-abstract compositions that blur the line between photography and visual art.
With Journey of Colors, İzzet Keribar’s photographs encourage viewers to reflect on diverse ways of life, environments, and universal human experiences, highlighting how a single frame can encapsulate vast narratives. This exhibition promises an immersive experience for those seeking to see the world through Keribar’s lens and engage with the artistry that has defined his life’s work.
