2011 Young Photographers Award Results

Selection Process
The winners were selected by Anne Havinga, Yousuf and Estrellita Karsh Senior Curator of Photographs, and Karen Haas, The Lane Collection Curator of Photographs, both from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, who made the following statement about the selection process:

"We were honored to be invited to jury the Young Photographers Award again this year. It is always exciting to have the opportunity to look at the output of budding photographers like these, who at the start of their careers already show such promise and have so much to say. It is also fascinating for us as American curators to see the common threads that run through the field of photography across cultures as diverse as ours, as well as to discover aspects of this work that to our eyes seem distinctly Turkish. This year we were pleased to note that there were 22 applicants from 12 different university photography programs across Turkey and that the range and caliber of the work was even stronger than it was in the first year of the award. Having to choose a single winner was therefore even more difficult than it might have been, so we are very happy to be able to recognize two additional artists whose photographs we feel especially stood out and therefore deserve honorable mention as well.

"The winner of the Young Photographers Award, Tuncay Cetin, presented a riveting series of portraits of Alzheimer patients in a local nursing home that are undeniably heartbreaking but avoid feeling marginalized, as each of his subjects is so sensitively described in the artist's titles and accompanying texts. Tuncay Cetin's black-and-white photographs are made even more powerful by their beautiful print quality, extreme close-ups, and tightly cropped compositions. These are images that have a strength and maturity that made them our clear first choice.

"We also particularly responded to the 'Pastel Deaths' pictures by Emir Ozsahin, to whom we gave the first honorable mention for an unusual group of color photographs of dead animals captured in very human poses that was inspired by the artist having witnessed the tragic death of a friend. This visual exploration of what remains of a loved one after death was both thought provoking and surprisingly lovely. The second honorable mention goes to Mahmut Koyas, whose large, graphically strong prints examine the very different life experiences of men, women, and children living in the rugged terrain along the border of Turkey and Armenia. We were especially drawn to his exhilarating photograph of a boy and rearing horse and another showing the backbreaking labor of women doing laundry - both images set against the dramatic landscape of the region. Congratulations to Tuncay Cetin, Emir Ozsahin, and Mahmut Koyas and all the photographers who took part in this second year of the Young Photographers Award."

Participating Universities
* Akdeniz University Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Photography
* Bahcesehir University Faculty of Communications, Department of Photography and Video
* Bilgi University Photography and Video Department
* Dokuz Eylul University Department of Photography
* Halic University Faculty of Fine Arts
* Kocaeli University Department of Photography
* Marmara University Department of Photography
* Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Department of Photography
* Okan University Faculty of Fine Arts Department of Photography
* Sabanci University Visual Arts and Visual Communications Design
* Yeditepe University Department of Visual Communication Design
* Yildiz Technical University Department of Photography and Video