WHO IS BUFOK?

BUFOK's roots date back to 1929 when it was founded under the name "Robert

College Photography Club". It got its current name in 1972.

Many a photographer who made a name for themselves in our country such as Nuri

Bilge Ceylan, Laleper Aytek, Orhan Cem Cetin and Ali Taskiran were members of this

club. Our club has also earned its reputation with being the first college

photography club in Turkey.

In 1996 BUFOK started to publish its own photography magazine called Genis Aci

(Wide Angle) and has distributed it countrywide and has been very successful. By

publishing 50 issues it has filled the photography magazine gap in Turkey and has

become more modern and higher in quality.

Because of some issues, our club has been absent from the publishing scene for

the last couple of years, however now it is in the phase of renewal and revival. We

hope that after this phase BUFOK will return back to its former reputation. In the

coming pages we will talk about all the events that we have organized this year.

Translator: Su Akaydın

CONTENTS

CLOSED BOX

THIS AND THAT

NURİ BİLGE CEYLAN SPECIAL

FROM OUR MEMBERS

NEW POSE

GERDA TARO

FROM OUR ALUMNI

WHAT IS BUFOK DOING?

WHY A FANZİNE?

It has been almost 10 years since the early 00's when the digital age of

photography really started. We have been buried under a mass of photography,

produced either solo or collectively. This is the reason why this fanzine you are

holding in your hands right now came to be, to purely being able to touch photos

away from all the chaos. Of course our aim is to produce as much photos without

using up too much paper.

bufokmail@gmail.com || www.facebook.com/groups/bufokmail

CLOSED BOX

I've been living in this closed box since I've been born. Nobody wanted to show me

what was outside of the box, but I saw it for myself. Now I want to escape it but they

have me pinned down with invisible chains. A life with drawn out limitations. A closed

box surrounded by bars made of prejudice... What are all these responsibilities,

expectations, and limitations for? Why do they look at me like that, why do they

interfere with my life? They are waiting for me to surrender. No, I wont accept it. I'm

trying to find a solution but all I can do for now is scream until my lungs hurt. I scream

so I don't go insane. Do you think anyone hears me?

It's all there. The labels you slap on to me the moment you see me. The labels you

put without giving it a second thought, without knowing who I am. The way you talk

about me without knowing me, the way you criticize my everything, the way you label

something different as wrong... I carry all those with me.

How many of us have been lucky enough to be someone who they want to be? Without

us even knowing our roles were pre-prepared for us. You created stereotypes and

banished the ones that didn't fit. Our free will was called "failure". You stole our

freedom, defiled our dreams.

Now, as you read this and look at this photo, you again create new prejudices, don't

you?

Routine, ordinariness and numbness of the brain. An effort to look happy, when

nobody is. I've become numb now; I'm numb and slowly dying.

I don't know what the end of this story will bring. Maybe one day I won't even have the

energy for a last stand, a last struggle and I will be devoured. Years later after I've

succumbed, these pages will come back to haunt me and I will be ashamed of myself.

"Coward" I will call myself, because I hadn't been brave enough in this game where

we only have one life. But there is another option. A tree blooming green amidst the

black, a leaf falling, an escape. It's the rustle of the branches that keeps me alive.

Photographer: Onur Hunce

Model: Can Ortak

NEW POSE

Waiting with big anticipation under the red light, while the photo develops in the

developer fluid after taking it out of the aggrandizer. The image in the negative literally

comes to life as the reaction happens and a fresh and new pose appears in front of

you. The darkroom creates such an atmosphere that your photograph can totally turn

into something else. This time I applied some developer fluid on the negative with the

help of a brush and now the photo does not just reflect what has been shot but is

more selective in what it chooses to show.

Alican Barkan

THIS AND THAT

WIGGLE WIGGLE, 2015

Merdan Berk

GERDA TARO

Who is Gerda Taro you say? She is more than three consecutive shots that were

photographed by Robert Capa, she is the first woman war photographer, Orwell's lost

camera, the closing eyes of Anarchist Barcelona...

Gerda is the youngest daughter of a middle class family

and was born in 1910, in Stuttgart. After getting arrested

during a NSGWP rally in her 20's, she was exiled to Paris

where she would meet Capa who was going to play a big

role in her life. When she met Capa she got introduced to

the world of photography. In 1935 with the help of a Leica

they were barely able to get from a pawnshop, they started

their agency that would later on produce their much

coveted photography.

Just then a great war,

that would change the

history of thought of the

20th century, broke out

in the south, the Spanish

Civil War. During the very

first day of the war Taro,

Capa and David Seymour

cross the border. They

document the victorious

days of Barcelona and

the foundations of the

biggest anarcho-

communist structure in

the world.

Taro, creates a name for herself with her unique techniques and by keeping a close

eye on current events, among the leftist French media of the time, where she worked

alongside with Capa and Seymour. They become the only image source for the

independent foreign media of the time.

According to

Eric Blair, Spain

suffered the

worst

propaganda

and media

censorship in

history. While

non-existent

wars were being

written, a blind

eye was turned

towards conflicts in which thousands of people died. Gerda Taro and a journalist

friend of hers get trapped during an air raid in Madrid. Chances of survival seems

next to zero and they document the aircrafts as if trying to show that they aren't

dying for naught.

Taro was expected to return by train to Paris the next day. But she never arrived at

the train station where Capa awaited her. Taro dies.

Eric Blair wrote about the lost revolution of a lost country. He lost his camera when

he got shot so only his writings remain. Gerda Taro photographed the lost revolution

of a lost country. She died. Her photographs remained.

Do not spray into eyes, I have sprayed you into my eyes

3:10 pm, Capa pends death, quivers, last rattles, last chokes

All colors and cares glaze to gray, shriveled and stricken to dots

Left hand grasps what the body grasps not, le photographe est mort

...

Do not spray into eyes, I have sprayed you into my eyes

Hey Taro1*

Onur Ciddi

1 Taro, Alt-J

NURİ BİLGE CEYLAN FROM THE BUFOK ARCHIVES

Nuri Bilge Ceylan is one of the former presidents of BUFOK. While perusing through

our archives we found some photos he worked on in the club. We wanted to share

these special photos, of which we think are no other copies, with you with his

permission.

Nuri Bilge Ceylan, his self-portrait in front of the darkroom

Nuri Bilge Ceylan

PRETEND IT’S AN ANALOG

I’m sure it has happened to you too before. I look. The more I look the more I see. If I

look less, I see less. A scene sparks my interest. It grabs my attention. Sometimes,

bam! I take a quick photo of it. Sometimes I get good results but sometimes I say, “I

wish I had shot it further away, I wish I had included the kid in the background” or “I

wish I hadn’t included the kid in the background, I wish I had shot the depth of field

in a wider angle so I could take in all the textures” and so on. A regret one feels after

missing an opportunity. “I wish I had..”

Digital cameras are

wonderful devices. In

addition to many

perks, they give us

the luxury of being

able to take photos

quicker and enable

us to move quicker

too. Wee see, we

take a photo.

Sometimes we shoot

tens of photos, look

through them, they seem good so we move on.

However us rushing can cause us to miss opportunities. We become a quicker

photographer.

However we miss being a photographer, who makes a difference with his choices or

makes these choices consciously. Also it may not be always possible to create a bond

between oneself and the subject or scene, or to enjoy internalizing what is happening

in front of us.

I have been taking photos with a digital camera for about five years now. Last year I

bought a medium-format and large-format analog camera. I learned a lot from these

cameras.

First of all, in order to shoot with the medium-format camera, one has to really plan

which film is going to be used for what kind of shots. You can’t rush it. When you can’t

rush it you look at the scene. When

I look at the scene, I see new

relationships, new patterns, new

objects, new textures, new lighting,

and new options. Afterwards I make

a decision on how I am going to use

these. What I want starts to take a

form in my mind. During this

process, the bond between me and

the thing I am looking at,

strengthens. I don’t fuss with the

camera or concern myself with what

is coming next but with the thing that is right in front of me at that moment. The

camera does not get between my work and me.

After the decision is made, the technical side of things is much simpler on an analog

camera. It suffices to decide on the exposure with a light meter, a sunny16 or

sometimes with pure experience and to play with the diaphragm and instantiation

settings. After that of course it is also important not to shake while taking the photo

Wide-format is much harder. First of all it is next to impossible to take a photo without

a tripod when using a wide-format camera. The camera, tripod, cartridges, lenses and

loop make a very heavy backpack to carry. Setting up the camera is in and of itself a

ritual. Set up the tripod, mount the camera, open the camera, put the lens on, focus,

tinker with the standards and focus again, if not try to focus again… In order not to

say “I wish I had set up the camera a little farther” you have to really decide where

you are going to stand.

For this, one has to focus the scene nicely, go through options, try to imagine how

each camera will see the scene and internalize everything that is going on.

At this stage you don’t have a

camera. It is just you and the

object/scene. The feeling this

process gives is probably one of

the most satisfying things for a

photographer. After all decisions

are made, one just has to set up

the camera, get the settings

straight and push the shutter

button.

During the year I used my analog

camera, I understood the

importance of these

experiences better and I since have been trying to transfer these experiences onto

my digital photos. Before I even take the camera in my hands, I stop and look at what

I’m going to shoot. I start to imagine. Sometimes I pause for a while and stop looking,

and then come back and look at it some more. The camera does not get between me

and my object or scene. After that, when I’ve decided on what and from where I’ll take

the photo I take the camera out and push the shutter button.

For a better experience I now take photos with my digital camera as if I were using an

analog camera.

Selim İmer

94’ Mezunu

FROM OUR MEMBERS

Gökberk Koçak

Onur Ciddi

Begüm Yılmaz

Ömer Ak

Ömer Ak

BÜFOK NE YAPIYOR?

During the first semester

we organized trips to the

Historical Peninsula,

Anatolian Lighthouse on

Garipce, Cengelkoy-

Kuzguncuk and Balat.

Before every trip BUFOK

got caught in rain. From

now on we prepare for the

trips expecting rain :)

In between the two semesters we went on a Bursa trip despite the heavy snow fall.

In addition to the regular trips, seminars and darkroom workshops some changes

were made. We renovated our clubroom in which cats had been living for the last

couple of years. We even turned the small clubroom into a studio.

We will continue where we left off in the second semester. We will be glad to have

new members coming who are interested in photography!

BÜFOK 2014-2015 ADMINISTRATIVE BODY

President: Onur Hunce

Vice President: Alican Barkan

Bookkeeper: Gizem Kılıç

Secretary: Kadernur Akpınar

Core Members: Onur Ciddi, Atakan Arıkan, Salih Tosun,

Sevcan Özkılınç, Kemal Berk Kocabağlı, Aylin Gülüm

CONTRIBUTORS

We thank Can Ortak, Merdan Berk, Ömer Ak and the Bogazici University press for

helping during the production.

Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Güney Kampüs, 1. Erkek Yurdu Altı, Bebek / İstanbul

OPEN CALL

This is an open call by BUFOK, which has in the past published Geniş

Açı and Kare and now works hard in order to publish a new magazine.

Contribution is essential for this fanzine that you are holding in your

hand and for the continuation of the functioning of the group that has

made this fanzine possible.

This is a timeless open call for everyone who is reading this to partake

in BUFOKFANZINE. There are no subject limitations. If you have any

questions you can reach us from the below mentioned places:

bufokmail@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/groups/bufokmail

Our door is open for everyone!