Istanbul exhibition reveals Ara Güler’s intimate portrait of Cannes

One shot shows Sophia Loren raising a glass beneath the adoring gaze of fans. In another frame, Brigitte Bardot lies carefree in the countryside in a T-shirt and jeans.

Frozen in time yet alive with glamour and spontaneity, these moments are part of a new exhibition in Istanbul featuring previously unseen shots by Türkiye’s legendary Magnum photographer Ara Güler at the Cannes Film Festival.

Dubbed the “Eye of Istanbul” by fans, Güler was famed for his iconic black-and-white images that captured the soul of the Turkish city.

He also regularly covered the world’s top film festival on the French Riviera between 1957 and 1967.

“Beyond the award ceremonies and red carpets, Ara Güler also captured what unfolded behind the scenes: lavish parties, intimate gatherings and even a luncheon held in honor of Sophia Loren,” said Cagla Sarac, the art advisor for Doğuş Group, a leading business group that founded the Ara Güler Museum.

“The result is a remarkably complete portrait of the festival, revealing not just its glamour, but the full human story surrounding it,” she told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

His Cannes festival shots are on display until Oct. 11 at the museum in Istanbul, which opened in 2018, two months before his death on his 90th birthday.

Next to the museum, a team of experts continues to work meticulously on his vast archives, preserving the legacy of Türkiye’s photography master.

“There are countless remarkable photographs in his archive and with every exhibition we hope to bring new frames to light,” Saraç said.

Passion for cinema

Traces of Güler’s lifelong devotion to cinema can even be found in his teenage diaries from the late 1940s and 1950s, according to Temel Yılmaz, conservator and archive researcher.

“In his high school diaries, we keep seeing the same line over and over again: ‘I didn’t go to school today,'” he said with a smile. “Because he had gone to the cinema instead.”

In a wide-ranging career, he also photographed famous personalities including Salvador Dali, Alfred Hitchcock and Winston Churchill.

Born to an Armenian family in Istanbul, Güler attended an Armenian school there and began working as a photographer for the Turkish newspaper Yeni Istanbul.

He got his first big international chance as a photographer in 1958 when U.S. magazine Time-Life opened a Türkiye office.

He then met the likes of photographers Marc Riboud and Henri Cartier-Bresson who signed him up to join the celebrated photo agency Magnum.

Genuine portaits

“He looked at everything through the lens of news value, always trying to document, always searching for a new story,” recalled Alin Tasciyan, a film critic who has followed the Cannes Film Festival since 2002 and who knew Güler.

What stands out in his archive, Taşçıyan told AFP, is his ability to see beyond the surface.

“When I look at the photographs, I see the moments Ara Güler captured – sailors arriving on boats. He would walk through the streets and beaches of Cannes, observe what was happening.”

For Güler, photography was about truth rather than spectacle, she said.

“He really photographed the spirit of the time, the spirit of the place. In this exhibition, I saw how much he could extract from a place I know so well,” she said.

“I also saw his humor – he was a very funny man. He would suddenly crack a joke at the most unexpected moment.”