Serkan Çolak

Turkey

Serkan Çolak was born in Balikesir, Turkey. After living in several regions of Turkey, he settled in Izmir in 2005. He is the co-founder of MahzenPhotos collective and No. 238. Çolak is mostly concerned with documentary photography. His projects deal with different topics such as urbanisation processes, and focus on issues around cultural diversity and human rights in Turkey.

The subject of Çolak’s photos convey human resilience in the face of adversity, his unique staging of each photograph focalises on a specific point in his immediate surroundings to highlight and emphasise the aim of his project as a whole. His photographs do not take away agency from his subjects, but rather, through these series, the viewer is met with human counterparts that are made equal to themselves through the lens of Çolak.

Selected Events

Group Exhibitions

2013 Res, Institut Français de Turquie, Izmir, Turkey
2013 Sony World Photography, London, UK
2014 Aquadis, Institut français de Turquie, Izmir, Turkey
2014 MahzenPhotos, Bursa Photo Festival, Bursa, Turkey
2015 After Syria, Foto istanbul, Turkey
2015 Urban Transformation in Kadifekale, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
2015 MahzenPhotos, Kusadasi Photo Festival, Turkey
2015 MahzenPhotos, Antalya Photo Festival, Turkey
2015 City Diaries, The Photographers Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
2015 52nd International Troia Festival, Canakkale, Turkey
2019 Ariano International Film Festival, Naples/ Italy
2019 Bronx Documentary Center PHOTO AUCTION BENEFIT 5TH ANNUAL, New York, USA

Personal Exhibitions

2017 Noir, Iz Performance, Izmir, Turkey
2018 Noir, No238,Izmir, Turkey
2019 On The Road, No238, Izmir, Turkey
2019 The Indian Photography Festival (IPF) State Gallery of Art Hyderabad, India
2019 International Polyphony Photo Festival, Calcutta, India

Publications