Photography festival cheers Bursa streets

BURSA - Anatolia News Agency

With the participation of many Turkish and foreign photography artists, the International Bursa Photography Festival turns the streets of the city into a gallery. DHA photo

One of Turkey’s most prominent photography festivals has kicked off in the Marmara province of Bursa with the promise a full week of events that are stretching to every corner of the city.

The second edition of the International Bursa Photography Festival Fotofest started Sept. 15 with a cortege passage on the city’s Cumhuriyet Avenue.

Bursa Photography Association (BUFSAD) Chairman Utku Kaynar said it was the largest photography festival in a region from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean. “Important avenues and streets, as well as the historic bazaar, have been closed to traffic and turned into a gallery. The festival is spread out all over the city.”

Bursa City Council Chairman Mehmet Semih Pala said the festival had been organized in collaboration with public and private institutes, the business world and volunteers.

The festival has been organized this year under the theme of “Traces of Humanity” and will exhibit photographs that narrate the noble human struggle for a better life despite wars, economic crisis and the depletion of global resources.

Hosting renowned photographers from around the world, as well as Turkey’s new talents in photography, the festival aims to create a convergence between the international photography scene and Turkish photography.

The festival, which will run until Sept. 21, will also host photography contests, social responsibility projects, training workshops for amateur photographers and color the walls of Bursa schools and public institutions with photographs.