WHO?
My name is Ayla Güvenç İmir. I live in Ankara. After working in the press, I decided to become a teacher. I am a teacher of journalism. Together with my students, we formed a team of 40 people and made pinhole shots, we witnessed every stage of the shooting, and we all jumped with joy when we saw what we recorded for the first time. Photography was my passion. Then I discovered street photography. I have been interested in street photography for 4 years.
WHAT?
I’m interested in everything about street life, gestures and facial expressions, attitudes, light, fleeting moments, all these make me curious. I’m looking for extraordinary portraits and scenes…behind seemingly ordinary portraits and scenes. I also love capturing multiple movements, mini-stories and actions in the composition.
WHERE?
I think the best places for street photography are cities. İstanbul is full of vibrant colours, and there are many different people. İstanbul is also a touristic city, so it’s more comfortable to take photos, Ankara is a capital city, so it’s an official city. It’s therefore more difficult to take pictures there. But I travel to other cities, which is very enjoyable for me.
WHEN?
I go everywhere with my camera, the streets are full of action, especially in the morning and evening, I try not to miss the light.
WHY?
I think that the discipline of all photography is actually the streets. I love the surprises on the streets, the excitement and dynamism on the streets.
I love to combine different stories in a frame, sometimes including myself in that frame, I search for mysterious and questioning photographs. As Trent Parke has said, “I am forever chasing light.” I am also forever chasing light.
I admire Gueorgui Pinkhassov’s surreal interpretation of ordinary situations, and how he catches those moments, they make me curious. Taking photos makes me very happy, it’s a passion and a life style. It is distinctive. There I can find rhythm, light, shadow, surprises, emotions, contrasts. In short, all the states of human beings. I like the quote of Turkish photographer, Arif Aşçın, “Patiently, I’m waiting for life to edit the photo I need.”
