Interview of Cenk Erdogan - @cenkerdogan

Hello Cenk, you are the "Best Street Photo project" 2023. What do you think about being selected as a winner among hundreds of other photographers ?

It was a surprise for me. I shared the good news with my family and friends. Winning in such a large-scale competition is both prideful and motivating. Now, I am even more eager to work on the series that I want to create and share with people.

Can you tell us about your background and how you became a photographer ?

I have been involved in graphic design and creative directing for approximately 25 years. After working in international advertising agencies, my partner and I have been running our own design studio since 2009, providing services to national and international brands. Photography is a medium I use in my profession, where I create narratives by utilizing the relationship between photography and text in design. Drawing from this experience, since 2013, I have been endeavoring to create series and tell stories in the fields of street photography and documentary.

What about the « Fair_play » series, how did you build this project and what do you plan to do in the future ?

I explained in the text describing the concept of the series, County fairs have been held once or twice a year in Anatolian towns for centuries. After the harvest, people of all ages come together and they engage in small-stake gambling, trade animals, and shop for winter necessities at the amusement park.

I remember a fair I witnessed in a small town in the Aegean region when I was a child, and I was enchanted by it. I was so excited to ride a primitive vehicle resembling a go-kart in a dusty field for just 3 minutes.

While their numbers may have dwindled, this fantastical world with its traditional games, amusements, and all its hustle and bustle has continued unchanged for centuries. Most of the fairground owners and horse traders, who are mostly of Romani origin, travel from fair to fair, staying in tents and caravans. Playing with the spinning the wheel of fortune, winning a packet of cigarettes by throwing a hoop, and earning 100 TL by scoring 2 penalties are the most popular games, some of which have their little tricks.

In my early 50s, I wanted to participate in this game with my photographs, and I visited county fairs mostly in towns in the western part of Turkey, mainly in the Aegean and Marmara regions, some of which have been around for over a century. I tried to take part in this “play” at the fairs with my photographs and see what is beyond the obvious.

It was an amazing experience for me, and I made some wonderful friendships. Among my plans are other series ideas, and I am currently observing and researching them. We can also refer to it as an incubation process.

As the winner of our photo competition, what advice can you give to photographers who want to apply for next year ?

Photography encompasses numerous genres and approaches, and I view it as a personal journey where the significance lies in being on the path itself. While a street photograph is often singular and unique, I personally prefer creating series over individual photos. I believe context is crucial. To prospective participants, I would encourage them to look at things with a different perspective, not shy away from experimentation, watch plenty of films to enhance visual perception, and engage with photography books to deepen their understanding of the craft.

Cenk Erdogan (@cenkerdogan) is a Turkish graphic designer & street photographer based in Istanbul, Turkey. He has been providing communication and branding design services to many national and international brands for 25 years. As a photography enthusiast and a shutterbug, he loves capturing life moments and sharing visual stories. Some of his projects were published in various digital media, received degrees in international competitions and had the opportunity to exhibit. His website : https://cenkerdogan.com/