New Things and Cinematic Scenes

Photography by Çağla Polat

For Çağla Polat, being a photographer has changed her life in a positive way. Çağla shares how photography allowed her to express her feelings, cope with anxiety, and make her see the world a whole different way.

Istanbul, Turkey

What is your history as a photographer?

I was one of those people who loves taking pictures during my travels and it was just a hobby. During 2018 August, I decided to start an ig page just for my photo archive; it wasn't a big deal at first but the page growed so fast that I couldn't believe it. I realized that people really appreciate my work and I told myself that " Ok, maybe I need to take it a bit serious". Since that moment i never stopped shooting.

Since you began as a painter and transitioned into photography, what kind of fulfillment does photography give you that painting doesn’t? Do you ever compare the two mediums?

It’s quite obvious for me; I can easily express my feelings with photography compared to painting. "Expressing feelings" sounds quite cliche but the truth is I am still having "artblock" with painting, even though I’ve painted for more than five years. Maybe I need a bit of time to find my way with painting.

On the other hand, photography makes me feel like I found my way. I know what I am doing, I have lots of ideas, I am so excited for new things; I literally haven’t stopped for a second and my passion is the same as the beginning.

You are inspired by directors such as Gaspar Noe, Andrey Tarkovski and Wong Kar Wai. In what ways do they influence you? Which aspects of their films really speak to you?

These three genius people really shaped my perspective. I'm inspired by the color palettes of Gaspar Noe and Wong Kar Wai and the cinematic scenes of Tarkovsky. Also there are movies such as Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey which I'm in love with.

If I need to mention just one movie, this would be "Enter the Void" directed by Gaspar Noe; my favorite for years.

Tell the story behind one of your images.

This one is quite special to me. I was in high school, my class was at 7am and I was running at the bridge hoping not to be late. I stopped for a second and took a pic of the traffic during heavy fog with my iphone 5s. This picture was one of those random shots that stayed in my phone gallery. Years later, when I started photography, I was looking through my archives and found this picture and remember how satisfied I was. An Ood one but still one of my favorites.

How has your sister, a documentary photographer, guided you in your photography journey?

I can't express grateful I am for having a sister like her. I grew up with her photography journey, watching her winning lots of prizes and doing her best from beginning to the end; she is the best teacher, guide, and supporter to me. During those years she took me to the galleries, art events, or anything related to art while I was just a child and didn't get into photography, of course; nobody in our family thought that I would be a photographer too. But here we are, best friends and travel buddies; my partner in crime.

How do you think you have grown and changed as a photographer since you first started ?

Beautiful question, made me think. First of all, doing something that you've never done before can change the way you think and you live; at least that's what happened to me. Leaving my room or interacting with different people was a horrible idea before; but now photography is helping me to cope with my social anxiety, I'm still struggling sometimes but working on it. Another thing, I’ve met amazing supportive people all around the world through social media. Those people inspire me every single day with their works, so grateful for each one of them. I didn’t think that social media could be this beneficial.

What's next for you ?

At this point, I’m just focusing on my university -currently studying Arts and Culture Management- and working on getting better at what I am doing. Sometimes I feel like I'm late a late bloomer but turns out I'm just 20 years old and an impatient person, guess I need to learn how to slow down.