For our 576th Art Gathering, we are visiting *212 Photography Istanbul*, hosted at the Galata Greek School.
The Galata Greek School is a significant structure among the educational institutions established by the Greek community during the Ottoman Empire's modernization era. The school was built with the support of Eleni Zarifi—a philanthropist of the time—on land donated by the Galata Greek community, with the aim of contributing to the modern education and instruction of Greek children. Completed in 1885 after a construction period spanning approximately 30 years, the building officially opened as a school on Wednesday, June 2, 1910, at 11:00 AM. The school’s architects were Patroklos Kambanakis and Stavros Hristidis, with Perikli Fotiadis serving as the architectural consultant. Constructed in the neoclassical-eclectic architectural style of the period, the school is located in Galata, Istanbul’s historic trade and finance hub. Having educated many students from Galata’s Greek community between 1910 and 1988, the school suspended its educational activities in 1988 due to demographic shifts. It functioned as a kindergarten between 2000 and 2007 before being officially closed for education in 2015. After remaining silent for many years, the school building was returned to its owners—the Istanbul Greek community—in 2012. Having hosted numerous significant cultural events since then, the building now operates as a culture and arts center under the name "Okul" (School) following a restoration process that took place between 2019 and 2023. Currently, as part of 212 Photography Istanbul 2026, the Galata Greek School is hosting exhibitions that bring together two significant figures from the world of photography. The Galata School Foundation Cultural Center—one of the festival’s key venues—features "Short & Sweet: A Retrospective," the first comprehensive exhibition in Istanbul dedicated to the British photographer Martin Parr, who passed away last year. Spanning over fifty years of Parr’s creative output, the exhibition traces his journey from early black-and-white works to the color series that brought him renown, while also including "Parrjektif," a project focused specifically on Istanbul. In Parr’s photographs, themes such as holidays, shopping, dining, and crowds may appear humorous at first glance; yet, beneath the vibrant colors lies a keen observation of consumer habits, social class, and the ways in which we present ourselves to the world. Realized with the contributions of Mavi, the Magnum Foundation, and the Martin Parr Foundation, the exhibition invites viewers to discover the humor hidden within the mundane, the absurdity of consumer culture, and the rawest aspects of human nature. The same venue also hosts Frank Horvat’s exhibition, "Please Don’t Smile." Horvat, who revolutionized the established norms of fashion photography, took models out of the controlled environment of the studio and into the streets of Paris and London. In the images he captured amidst the city's flow, the woman’s posture, her relationship with her surroundings, and the specific moment captured by the camera become just as significant as the clothing itself. Natural gestures, unexpected encounters, and the everyday rhythm of the city blend seamlessly with the carefully constructed worlds of the models. Wednesday, October 14
12:00–13:00