Yigit Gunel

My earliest understanding of photography came from my father’s darkroom. In its darkness, images slowly appeared from almost nothing, revealing details that had already existed but had gone unnoticed.

That experience continues to shape the way I work. Photography, for me, is a form of observation: a way of standing just outside a moment and looking closely at the people, gestures and relationships within it.

I am interested in the spaces people create around themselves, the ways they belong to groups and places, and the subtle exchanges that reveal something about a wider culture. Whether photographing a portrait, a gathering or a community, I am less interested in describing what something looks like than in understanding what is happening beneath the surface.

The camera remains a kind of camera obscura: a small, quiet space from which I can observe the world, question it, and make connections between individuals and the environments they inhabit.

Bilgi University / Visual Communication Design / MFA
Anatolian University / Journalism

2026 On the Road, Versus Arts, London
2026 Capital of Loneliness, Bursa International FotoFest, 2025 Selfhood, Versus Arts, London
2015 New Photography / Alan Istanbul
2012 34 Women 34 Portraits / Antalya Film Festival, Izmir, Istanbul, Bursa, Eskisehir, Izmit
2011 Photography Today / Istanbul Photography Museum
2003 Hands of Grease – Ege University
2001 Hands of Grease – Anadolu University
2001 Act – Anadolu University