Emin zmen: Olay

Meaning event or incident, Olay is a powerful chronicle of a tumultuous decade in Turkey, tirelessly documented by Emin zmen. This first book by zmen is a retrospective of his work to date, recounting the photographers homeland in a ceaseless state of turmoil, hit by dramatic events: a failed coup dtat, popular uprisings, natural disasters, political purges, and ongoing military operations. This vivid and fast-paced series of black-and- white photographs is punctuated with moments of calm in the form of meditative colour images and personal texts. Despite the omnipresent tension, a feeling of graciousness and warmth emerges from zmens work, which unfolds to form a nuanced and necessary comment on the Turkish state and the sentiments of its people.

We are constantly being tossed around between violence and quiet daily life. Turkey gives no respite. Never a week without a drama, never a month without a major event. Olay is a documentation of Turkey, on the brink of violence and grace. Here, nothing is simple, everything intertwines and clashes, the beautiful as well as the ugly, sadness as well as joy. Emin zmen

The book includes an extensive timeline introduced by Piotr Zalewski, Turkey correspondent for The Economist, as well as personal texts written by zmen, and is co-edited with Clo Kerhoas.