In pictures: 'Eye of Istanbul' photographer Ara Guler dies at 90

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45899844

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One of Turkey's best known photojournalists, Ara Guler, has died at the age of 90.

Nicknamed The Eye of Istanbul, Ara Guler chronicled the city with melancholic black-and-white pictures taken mostly with a Leica camera. He died in hospital in Istanbul on Wednesday after suffering heart failure, Anadolu news agency said.

Guler, who was born to ethnic Armenian parents, began his career as a photographer on a Turkish newspaper and in the 1950s he was appointed Time-Life magazine's Near East correspondent.

He went on to meet famous photographers such as Marc Riboud and Henri Cartier-Bresson, who signed him up to the celebrated photo agency Magnum.

His photographs captured the rapidly changing face of Istanbul - its best known landmarks as well as images of workers going about their daily routine. His work also took him around the world.

"People call me an Istanbul photographer but I am a citizen of the world. I am a world photographer," he once said.

Guler photographed many world figures including British wartime leader Winston Churchill; Indian stateswoman Indira Gandhi; philosopher Bertrand Russell and the artist Pablo Picasso.

The US playwright Tennessee Williams was also among the celebrities whom Guler captured on a visit to Istanbul in the 1950s.

Guler photographed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2015. The president called the photographer's family to offer his condolences and said that Guler would always be remembered for his work, Anadolu reported.

Earlier this year, a photography museum opened in Guler's name in Istanbul and organisers used the event to mark the photographer's 90th birthday - with a cake.