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     The entire team at DivePhotoGuide and The New York Underwater Photographic Society are proud to announce that NYUPS member Cagatay Erciyes, a career Turkish diplomat and a hobbyist underwater photographer featured an  underwater photo exhibition entitled “Colors of Oceans Through a Diplomat’s Lens” at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during UN Week Sept 8-19, 2008.

 

     The exhibit was the first of its kind in many respects as it was the first ever photo exhibition organized by a diplomat, solely dedicated to underwater photography in the United Nations building. The presentation of the exhibit was also unique as Cagatay’s underwater images were printed on a custom stretched fabric and backlit by energy efficient LED technology.

 

     DivePhotoGuide has recently interviewed Cagatay about his exhibition:

 

     “Diplomats may have many different hobbies. My favorite one is underwater photography as I have a great passion for the oceans. Indeed, my underwater photography journey started five years ago in Turkey, when I received my first digital camera and underwater housing from New York. At that time, I never thought that my journey would lead me to an exhibit in the heart of the diplomacy capital of the world.

 

     I  believe when diplomats take up transnational issues like environmental protection, a visual reminder could be most instrumental to demonstrate what actually is at stake and thus toprovide better guidance to their hearts and minds. It would be even more convincing, yet unusual, if this reminder could come from a diplomat him/her-self, through a photoexhibition. With these thoughts, I decided to open this exhibit a year ago.

 

     The preparations took almost a year. Duggal Eco-Imaging, a New York City based photographic lab and graphic display company was kind enough to be one of my sponsors. With Duggal, we thought that the traditional way of printing and gallery production wasn’t going to be enough.

 

     We therefore collaboratively choose to use a more conceptual way of dealing with my photography and decided that the prints should illuminate from the back giving the viewer the feeling of actually being under the water.

 

     This makes the blue tones of the water even more vibrant, setting the marine life apart by emphasizing their distinct beauty. We decided that the best and most eco-conscious way for these images to be represented was to create custom stretched fabric displays that allow the photography to bebacklit with the newest energy efficient LED technology.

 

     By using fabric rather than the traditional heavy, non degrading PVC vinyl, we designed a high efficiency, high impact and a very eco-conscious exhibit that can be easily installed and shipped.

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