Appreciating the Photography of A. Cemal Ekin - Inside Art with Michael Rose
Michael Rose, Art Columnist
Appreciating the Photography of A. Cemal Ekin - Inside Art with Michael Rose
Ekin, who is originally from Turkey, spent most of his life making photographs as a pastime. A longtime professor of marketing at Providence College, he holds an undergraduate degree and Ph.D. from the Academy of Economic and Commercial Sciences in Istanbul. He also holds an MBA from the University of Michigan.
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Speaking of how his longtime career as a college educator impacted his artmaking, Ekin says, “Teaching has affected my photography in different ways. First, it has increased my curiosity about the world around me. That in turn, made me interested in seeing many different subjects, from salt and pepper shakers to aerial vista's in infrared. Second, teaching has made me aware how different minds grasp new ideas and shaped how I share what I know. And finally, as in academic environments, I realized that the more I wrote about a subject the better it crystallized in my mind.”
He continues, “The results of the above are a great range of subjects in my work, a rich collection of articles, and many presentations at local and regional clubs and events.”
Some of Ekin’s early reminiscences of making photos begin around age eight, when he got his hands on his father’s Leica. It was a formative moment and one that led him to a lifetime of taking photographs alongside other pursuits. In the series on view at RICPA, Elkin took as his subject the falling petals of a rare and beautiful orchid. The resulting images inspired a ballet, which is also documented in photographs in the show.
Speaking of the complexities of the overlap between photographic and performing arts, he states, “That experience was extremely rewarding and quite frustrating at times. Ballet and photography have an interesting relationship. A performance is a streaming fleeting moments. Photography selects some of those moments and creates records of them, almost like picking fallen leaves from a stream of water. Dancers are highly interested in the perfection of their recorded moments. I, as a photographer, am interested in the lines, shapes, forms, texture recorded in the frame. Surely there are substantial overlaps between the two. But I found that the dancers to be less willing to accept photographic sensibilities. All said, the collaboration has been extremely rewarding, and, if I may say so myself, successful.”
The overlap between Ekin’s photographs and the elegant ballet they informed is a fascinating success story and a roadmap for other artists who might pursue such connections.
Considering the place photography now holds in his life, Ekin is both reflective and forward-looking. He says, “At my age, I try to enjoy my adventure and hope that another emergent project may take me on another exciting trip. As I get physically weaker, I may down-size my equipment but not my curiosity. Photography has been a part of my life for a very long time. It is like sustenance, I have to photograph, write or read about photography, and share what little I may know with anyone who wants to learn. There is no end to learning and teaching.”
Ekin’s photographs are a vehicle for new ways of seeing the world and for the reframing of visions of life and experience. They are indeed excellent teaching tools.
When asked what he hopes visitors will take away from the exhibition of his photographs at RI Center for Photographic Arts, Ekin says, “I would like the visitors to appreciate that anything may be photographed, even dried and shriveled flowers. It is up to the photographer to present them as compelling subjects. The dried flowers took me on an exciting trip as an emergent project. From the moment I noticed the shapes they assumed as they dried, I also realized that death and dying can be beautiful and they are inescapable parts of the adventure that we call life.”
Ekin’s exhibition at the RICPA is on view through October 14. The gallery is located at 118 North Main Street and is open to the public Thursday - Friday from 1-4 pm and Saturday 1-6 pm. For more information, go to www.riphotocenter.org. Learn more about A. Cemal Ekin at www.keptlight.com.