Show spotlights Guler's shots of ancient Turkish city

ISTANBUL

An exhibit of pictures by legendary photographer Ara Guler of an ancient city in Turkey has opened to visitors, the Istanbul museum said on Friday.

Titled “Aphrodisias,” the exhibit focuses on the Turkish-Armenian photographer’s shots of the ancient city and its surroundings as well as his original darkroom prints.

Known as “the Eye of Istanbul,” Guler accidentally discovered Aphrodisias over 60 years ago in Turkey’s western province of Aydin.

Coming back from an assignment covering a new dam, Guler and his driver lost their way and ended up in a village where locals used the ancient stones and pillars as props in their daily life, according to the 2003 book, Photojournalist: The Life of Ara Guler.

Aphrodisias -- the site of an ancient city devoted to Aphrodite, the goddess of love -- was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2017.

The exhibition at Istanbul’s Ara Guler Museum will run through September.

Guler died of a heart attack last year at age 90.

Writing By Handan Kazancı