| Art Profile |
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A. Halim Kulaksız was born in Gümüşhane in 1944. In 1951, he started using a photograph camera with his brothers when his grandfather İbrahim Çelebi brought it in the Selimiye village. While studying in high school, he founded photography club and took black and white photographs. After working at a sugar factory in Erzurum between 1960 and 1962, he moved to Istanbul and started working at a photography laboratory. In 1963, he joined IFSAK and met Şinai Barutçu. In the next year, Kulaksız founded Arcolor with his friend in Beyoğlu, Istanbul.
After his military service, Kulaksız started a photography course MEFO with Akın Öktem in 1969. In the same year, Kulaksız established REFO Color (Laboratory of Color Photography) with Muharrem Ergün. In the next year, Kulaksız separated from Ergün and continued REFO Color with his brother M. Selim Kulaksız. In 1971, Halim had his first solo and color photograph exhibition “Görüntüler” at Ankara Zafer Bazaar. In 1972, he had his second solo exhibition “Görüntüler 2” in Istanbul. In the same year, he graduated from the New York Institute of Photography. In 1973, he won a second award in the photography competition “Türkiyemiz,” which was held by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In 1974, he received first prize and three mention awards in the photograph competition “Türkiye,” which was held by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
After moving to Istanbul in 1977, Kulaksız served as an advisory board member to create the Department of Photography at Mimar Sinan University. He then worked as a lecturer at Mimar Sinan University. He served as the president in FOTOS between 1979 and 1980. He was given the title of “AFIAP” (Artist of FIAP) by the Federation of International Photography (FIAP) in 1984. In 1985, he had his third solo exhibition “Görüntüler 3” in Istanbul. Kulaksız published “REFO Fotoğraf Sanat” magazine between 1988 and 1991. He first used digital photography in the US and brought the first digital printing machines to Turkey in 1995. In 1996, Kulaksız started working as a lecturer at the Photography Department in the Faculty of Fine Arts at Marmara University. In 2004, he founded the Laboratory of Digital Photography with his sons Çağlar and Çoşar. Kulaksız has participated in numerous group photography exhibitions in Turkey and abroad, and has received many awards. In 2006, he won first prize in the photography competition “Horses” which was held by Koç Allianz. He has also served as a jury member in many national and international photography competitions. Currently, Kulaksız continues teaching at Marmara University.
Reference: halimkulaksiz.com, fotogen.org.tr, google.com.tr/images, Fotoğrafımızda Bugün 2011 (Istanbul: Istanbul Photography Museum, 2011), 258-259.
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