STUDIO VISITS: ASITANE PRODUCTION

Let's start our conversation by going back to the past. To the days that led you to what you want to do in life... Can you tell us about this process?

I learned a lot of things, including my school years, by trial and error. For me, it was always much more realistic to experience something than to listen to it from someone else... This was perceived by my surroundings as being head over heels, and it may have led me to mistakes at times... But I'm sure of this; It was this urge to "experiment" that always excited me and allowed me to really learn and explore. The joy I felt at that moment was unlike any before. I was excited as if I had discovered a new sensation. I wanted to use that new sense every moment and I wanted to know more. Now, every time I am with him, I experience this excitement over and over and discover new things.

You were born in Istanbul in 1986, you graduated from Bilgi University Photography and Video Department. But we wonder what's next. How did your career journey begin?

At the end of my university years, I experienced the anxieties of many university students. "I wonder what will happen now?" every time I asked myself this question, I fell into a depression, I felt as if I was walking in the pitch dark without seeing my way. Especially when you are surrounded by people who do not see the department you are studying and the job you want to do as a real job, everything starts to seem more difficult. Despite everything, I never lost my faith in myself. I was determined to walk this path even if I was alone. While taking pictures, I feel as if I am immersed in the flow of the world, as if I am creating the "moment" with my own hands. I think my biggest motivation in my career journey is to try to pass this feeling to those around me. At first, the photographs I took only for myself started to appeal to a considerable audience over time… After a short period of assistantship, I went my own way. When I said fashion photos, magazines, I took advertisement photos… My usual "experiment" motivation came up again. When the films that I started to shoot for myself with a team that believed in me were noticed by the brands, I started directing.

After graduating, you lived in Paris for a short time. So why did you feel the need to come back, what drew you to Turkey?

I believe that visual perception should always be nurtured and developed. This does not happen by always living in the same places and seeing the same things. I think that discovering new places, getting to know new cultures and making stories out of those places enrich creativity. So Paris was the first stop on this journey for me. I try to travel as much as I can… As I travel around the world, I get to know myself better and officially become liberated… I think that all this inner wealth adds more meaning to the work I do in my own country. I love Turkey with its dynamism, all its chaos, ups and downs and differences, and I think the pleasure of producing here is different...

Do you have a passion that no one knows about, what would you like to be if you weren't a photographer/director?

I actually try to narrate most of my passions in my photos. That's why it's so hard to have a passion that no one knows about, because my passions are the basis of my photography. But I guess I would like to be a "tennis player".

“If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to carry around a camera all the time,” says Lewis Hine. How does this sentence make you feel?

I actually have a very close connection with this sentence. Ever since I was little, I always had a hard time explaining myself. I felt as if what I was saying was not understood by those around me, and for this reason, I got angry very quickly. I had the pleasure of visually proving what I actually wanted to tell with photography, and I realized that this is where I express myself best.

If we don't ask: video or photo? Which one describes you better?

In fact, they are both equally important and feed off each other. I don't like sticking to one discipline when telling the story. I prefer to establish links between different disciplines. From time to time, I feel that I am limited in expressing myself in photography, and in this case, the video turns into a big sea for me to explore… Sometimes the opposite… Thus, my excitement for both of them always remains fresh and high.

What is the trademark of a good photo?

I think a good photo is one where you touch people and some of their deepest feelings. When people's most secret truths are captured, we're in for a good photo!

What makes you you and what makes a job Deniz Özgün?

It's really hard for me to answer this question. But people around me say "when I look at a photo, I know you took it".

Let's talk a little bit about muses, shall we?

In fact, my muses are always around me. Sometimes it can be a very close friend of mine, sometimes my family, sometimes my lover, and sometimes artists from whom I draw lessons from their life stories. The more you want to communicate with them, the more they inspire you.

Recently, a concept called "Instagram Photography" has entered our lives, what do you think about this situation?

It is certainly very important, times and technology change very quickly. Now everyone has their own media and production space. If you do not keep up with these innovations and improve yourself, you are on the verge of losing. I think that photography and video will be much different from the current usage area in 10 years. We should all absorb this change and shape our future accordingly.

Can you share with us a crazy shooting memory that you can never forget?

I went to Casablanca for a magazine shoot during my university years. After the shooting, we set out to go to Marrakech, another city in Morocco. The driver who drove the car was an interesting man with his behavior and attitude. The feeling that something was going to happen made me feel the moment I got into the car. As a matter of fact, half an hour after we set off, we stumbled upon a soldier's turn. The driver drove past them without stopping. Then military vehicles came after us and they started chasing us. We were playing chase with the soldier on the highway, accompanied by sirens and warning sounds at full speed. Somehow we convinced the driver to stop. Soldiers came to us, they were searching and questioning. At this point, there was an incredible view of nature and I did not want to miss that beautiful light at that moment. I got my camera and started shooting. At that time, one of the soldiers told me that shooting is forbidden here, so I could go to jail, and asked me to take out the reel of film from the camera and give it to him. The only thing he missed was that the machine was digital :) After a long struggle, we continued on our way, of course, but this has remained a memory that I will never forget.

You have created a very enjoyable studio where you can spend time 24/7. How do the Asitane Production team spend their days here?

We have an interesting team working very closely with each other, which has made Asitane a tight photography & video production center and studio in 4 years. I say interesting because each member is quite unique. An environment where differences, not similarities, come together and everyone feeds off each other. We are a young team that has survived intense shooting schedules. We start our day by sipping our coffees together. When we say meetings, project preparations, researches, shootings, we are always in an intense action, but we are quite enjoyable!

Moreover, you have become neighbors with our Gayrettepe branch! In this way, we see you often. What are your favorites in Petra?

Yes, and actually being close to you was one of the factors that excited me the most when our plans to move to Gayrettepe started to come true. As a coffee lover, it is a great luck to be so close to the place where I love their coffee. My favorites are flat white and nice music.

How does it feel to be back in the neighborhood as someone whose childhood was spent in Gayrettepe?

I have never left Gayrettepe. I used to commute often as my family still lives here. It is marvelous to be so close to a place where a person spent his entire childhood and where the features that make him one are so intense.

What's up with the coffee routines in the studio?

The importance of coffee in the studio is great for everyone. In general, we do not have regular working hours due to our job. Sometimes we can work until the morning, in such cases coffee is our biggest supporter in order to keep the tempo of our day high.

What about the sea and coffee? What kind of couple are you?

I think the only habit in my life that I don't question whether it should be in my life is to drink coffee!