Photography enthusiasts to bid for prized photos by Ara Guler

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) - An online auction will sell 46 prized works of renowned Turkish-Armenian photographer Ara Guler on Sunday, according to the head of an Istanbul auction house.

Ugur Yegin, a Turkish art collector and owner of Istanbul Muzayede, an auction house in the Turkish metropolis, told Anadolu Agency that Guler's photographs had never been auctioned in Turkey in this quantity before.

The famous photographer's works will be auctioned between for prices of 400-4,000 Turkish liras ($58-582), Yegin said.

"It's possible to see the photos printed by Ara Guler in the collections of some private museums and galleries," he added.

According to Yegin, if one wanted to possess a wet signed and sealed Ara Guler photo, they should either visit the galleries and try their luck, or follow the Ara Guler photos that are rarely put on auction among hundreds of other works.

The Istanbul-based Ara Guler Photography Museum also offers copies from the original prints, he added.

"In our selection, there are 46 wet-signed, 100% cotton-based natural fiber-free museum-class prints," said Yegin.

Also, some Istanbul photographs believed to be by celebrated French photographer Marc Riboud -- a close friend of Guler -- will also be at the auction, he added.

Among the Guler works up for sale is a photo titled, Sirkeci'de Bir Kis Gununde Atli Araba ve Tramvay (Horse-drawn Carriage and Tram on a Winter Day in Sirkeci) depicting a man holding the straps of a horse, the attached carriage and a tram on a street in Istanbul's historic Sirkeci district, as well as portraits of Turkey's legendary novelist Yasar Kemal.

The auction will be held on July 12 -- online due to measures to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Dubbed the "Eye of Istanbul," Guler rose to fame with his black and white portraits of his native city.

Guler also photographed the likes of Winston Churchill, John Berger, Alfred Hitchcock and Salvador Dali, among many other famed figures.

The Ara Guler Museum is dedicated to his works and opened in 2018, two months before his passing due to a heart attack at the age of 90.