Q&A Essay: Ugur Gallenkus

   

Background Information 

Ugur Gallenkus is a Turkish digital artist known for his work where he juxtaposes two very different photographs and finalises them as one picture. The nature of the two photographs are always very different: one of them would mostly involve a tragic scene from a war-zone, whereas the other one would normally show a more “peaceful” lifestyle that wealthier and luckier people live. In addition to his digital arts, Ugur Gallenkus has also published a book titled Parallel Universes of Children. The book contains his finalised photographs, quotes and statistics.

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  I discovered the work of Ugur Gallenkus, a Turkish digital artist, around March or April of 2019.  I was 15 years old and still in high school. At that time, I was opening my eyes to many of the issues happening around the world, such as the civil war in Syria (and the subsequent refugee crisis), the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and the ongoing occupation and displacement of the people of Palestine. 

    I had read so much about the issues and started thinking about how lucky I was compared to the people affected, as well as how unfair it is that the people living privileged lives either did not know about what was happening or simply did nothing. Throughout this period, I was confused, hurt, resentful and angry that I couldn't do anything. I did not know exactly how to explain in words what I was feeling deep in my heart to other people. That was the case until I came across Ugur's work. 

    One Friday after coming home from school - I don't recall exactly what happened - I was scrolling through Google images and found some of his work. The first picture that I ever saw was of two images juxtaposed into one showing a little girl blowing bubbles on the right side and, on the left side, smoke coming out as a result of a bomb attack. After doing research, I discovered that the picture with the smoke happened when Syrian regime forces conducted an airstrike in a rebel-controlled area in Damascus. 

The next image I saw was of two children from completely different worlds living completely different lives, and it was juxtaposed in such a way that it looked like the two of them were from the same world and had just come together to play on a seesaw. 

    I scrolled, scrolled and scrolled and was very happy I found these pictures. I started reading about Ugur Gallenkus and I was very grateful for him and his work. He created exactly what I was feeling in my heart with these images, and he showed the whole world its own reflection in the mirror. His artwork is a brutally honest message to everyone about inequality, poverty, war and its impact on the lives of many. His work really spoke to me and somehow made me feel less lonely. 

 - Man in Gaza gives his daughter and niece a bath in their home destroyed by Israeli airstrikes.

-Syrian boy plays on a swing nearby destroyed buildings / kids play in the playground.

- Five-year-old Palestinian girl, Noha Abu Mesleh, sits outside a refugee camp (her home) in Gaza

    This semester for university, I was able to contact him for an interview via his email, which can be found on his Instagram (@ugurgallen). I was lucky he responded and agreed to do it. We communicated back and forth for a bit, and he answered all of my questions and provided me with the appropriate images to use for this writing piece. 

    Below is the interview. 

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1) What inspired you to produce the photographs?

    UG:   I would like to state that I am not a photographer. I make digital collages of amazing editorial images of photo-journalists and photographers on different subjects. It all started with the work I did for the photograph of Aylan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed up on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Turkey in 2015. Turkey is the passageway for Syrian refugees. We can see closely the challenges and dangers they are facing. I saw the fear and despair in the eyes of women and children. I wanted to compare our own beautiful life with their fears and despair.

2)  Do you ever feel resentful towards those who are wealthier and better off for not being of any help to the poorer, needier people?

UG:   I see myself as a mirror, showing the different faces of the world, wars, inequality and hoping to inspire action for a better world. Resentfulness will not bring peace and equality. I want to focus my energy on the solutions and things that we need to be aware of to make a positive impact.  

3) Are you surprised at how well known you are now?

UG:   I never thought my work would have such an impact. It was a surprise for me. I started to work on the collages as a hobby after I saw the image of Aylan on the news. I had a day job, you know, like 9 to 5. In my case it is 8 am to 6 pm, managing an eCommerce site of a company in Istanbul. During the day I was working and evenings I was watching how-to videos to learn using programs to able to create collages. Not sure how I did come this far, everything just happened out of my control. I believe this must be the power of the messages that come with my collages. 

4) What is your advice for aspiring artists, authors or photographers? 

UG:  If they believe that what they do is different, they must know that one day other people will discover their talent. This is very easy, especially thanks to the Internet and social media. Do not give up on creating your work.

5) Are you involved in any new projects right now?

UG:   I have a newly published book, Parallel Universes of Children, and I have exhibitions in France, Germany, and Poland this year to reach more people. It is very important for me that the message in my work is understood and appreciated by many people.

6) What lesson do you hope people learn from you book, Parallel Universes of Children?   

UG:  According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the parties must provide the opportunities that children should have. However, the possible necessary opportunities that children have is an important problem not only for the party country but also for all humanity. Because the world is shrinking economically, technologically, and sociologically. We are closer to each other. Due to events such as wars, economic problems, unstable governments, environmental problems, all countries in the world are now affected by them. For the future, the lives of other children are as important as your own. That's why we aimed to publish this book with my studies showing the problems children are exposed to around the world.

7) Do you plan on writing a new book any time soon?

UG:   I am working on new book projects in the coming years. Of course, for new books, people's support for Parallel Universes of Children is still very important.

8) Who are some of your favourite artists/photographers/authors? Why?

UG:      I usually follow the artistic and creative social media accounts, and some artists and photographers. One of the people who inspire my work is the artist @combophoto on Instagram. I like Steve McCurry as a photographer. I have the utmost respect for photojournalists who risk their lives and work under emotional and environmental pressure. 

9) Do you ever feel depressed or helpless at the state of the world? If so, how do you cope with all the tragedies? 

UG:  I usually use photographs showing bad events and tragedies in my work and I have to examine hundreds of issues and scan photos. Of course, looking at these tragic photos affect me. I am appalled at the hardships that children and women in particular face. This work is the result of the suffering. I can empathise with all these people.

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