15.02.2025 - 15.06.2025

From February 15, 2025, discover the new exhibition LA MARÉE by Emin Özmen at the Leica Store Marseille. In this new exhibition, the photographer takes you on a journey through the landscapes of France. Often using water as a conductive element, he expresses his very special relationship with this essential element of life.
Join the Leica community and the photographer at the opening of his exhibition on February 27 and discover his vision of photography. 

 Since 2013, photographer Emin Özmen has regularly explored France, a country that has become an essential escape during periods of political turbulence in his native Turkey. Attracted by the infinite beauty of the French landscape, he finds inner peace by criss-crossing the beaches, particularly those of Normandy, where he spends long hours observing the tides. These moments of contemplation, combined with his personal and family history, have transformed his connection with France into an inexhaustible source of photographic inspiration. 

Without really being able to explain it, water has always held a special place in Emin Özmen’s life. Looking at his work over the long term, he realizes that the common thread is often water and the relationship living beings have with it. ‘There’s something magical about water and the effect it has on us: it soothes, it purifies, it transports us - literally and figuratively - and it invites us to contemplate, to play, to share. Water is also mysterious, often blending the intimate and public spheres. In France, the discovery of tides opened up new horizons: these immense empty beaches, revealed by the movement of water, became a field of exploration and a passion. ’

https://leica-camera.com/fr-FR/event/la-maree-emin-ozmen

“What are human beings and what are they entitled to?”

A question societies have asked themselves for centuries – was not seriously addressed at international level until after the Second World War. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights which the UN General Assembly solemnly proclaimed on 10 December 1948 “as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations” gives a clear answer to this question: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”. Everyone is therefore “entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”.

The human rights set out in this Declaration encompass different categories of entitlements, ranging from basic guarantees relevant for the protection of life and limb including the prohibitions of torture or arbitrary detention and the right for a fair trial, to various freedoms such as freedom of opinion, assembly and religion to a whole range of economic, social and cultural rights, including the rights to work, food and health or education. In drawing up this list, States provided, in an international document and for the first time in the history of mankind, a definition of the main entitlements human beings need for an effective protection of their dignity as persons. Although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was not a legally binding document but merely the outline of a “human rights project”, it became the starting point for the contemporary human rights protection that is now firmly established in a wide range of legally binding conventions.

It has been nearly eight decades since the adoption of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. The text has lost none of its topicality. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, in view of the many continuing instances of genocide, torture and oppression of minorities, the question arises as to whether international efforts to protect human rights have failed. It therefore remains an educational challenge to make an understanding of the basic rights of every person accessible to the larger public, notably to the younger public.

The main objects in this exhibition are photographs. The pictures come from the archive of the Magnum Photos Agency, which has been committed to the universal validity of human rights from its founding in 1947. Those images are intended to serve as the reason for a discussion, the subject of the discussion and as a possible documentation to re-kindle a discussion of the meaning of the topic “human rights” for the 21st century with the public.

This exhibition is curated by Emin Özmen.

https://www.magnumphotos.com/event/events/exhibitions/human-rights-the-haves-and-have-nots/

‘34 Days’ is on view at the Bursa Tayyare Cultural Center as part of Bursa Photo Fest from December 23rd, 2024–January 20, 2025. https://www.bursaphotofest.org/?lng=en

Exhibition ‘Curved Lines’ -  Emin Özmen, Alessandra Sanguinetti, and Gregory Halpern

Shanghai, X Space 4.20 - 5.31 2023

Beijing 09 Jun 2023 - 18 Jun 2023

The exhibition unites the creative endeavors of three esteemed photographers from Magnum Photos: Emin Özmen, Alessandra Sanguinetti, and Gregory Halpern. The journey from one point on the map to another is not a straightforward path but rather a meandering and curved trajectory. It entails encountering winding roads, reaching dead ends with no apparent way forward, and navigating unexpected bumps along the way. It is through such unconventional routes that new artistic creations come to life. Moreover, in nature, curved lines are far more prevalent than straight ones. They can be observed in the graceful curvature of a bird’s wing, the contours of the human body, or the undulating curve formed by ocean waves. These curved lines serve as both a visual and metaphorical element, encapsulating the essence that unites the works of these three photographers, despite their distinct styles and approaches.