Tag: photograph

Cemal Işıksel is the photographer whose frames were, and are being used as the basis for many portraits of Atatürk on several banknotes and coins.

• Ataturk portrait on the 5th Emission, 4th series 100 Lira banknotes put into circulation in 1962 and the 3rd series 500 Lira banknotes issued in the same year, engraved by by Jan Piwczyk
• 7th Emission 5,000 Lira banknote (1st type) portrait engraved by Selahattin Tuğa
• Portrait on the 7th Emission banknotes between 100,000 and 20,000,000 and later on the 8th Emission 1, 5, 10 and 20 New Lira by engraver Şükrü Ertürk
• 1973, portraits on gold and silver commemorative coins for the 50th anniversary of the Republic, by Avni Kumuk
• Portrait of Atatürk used on 250 Thousand Lira of 2002 and similarly on 25 New Kuruş of 2005 by Nesrin Ekşi Schnepf
• 2005 1 New Turkish Lira, Atatürk portrait by Hakkı Baha Çavuşgil
• Atatürk portrait of the 8th Emission 50 and 100 Lira banknotes, by Şükrü Ertürk
• Ataturk portraits on the 9th emission banknotes, by Nazan Tanyu (20 and 50 TL), and by Mustafa Çakırcalı (100 and 200 Lira).

(some photos are mirrored so to have Ataturk face left)

Born in Istanbul in 1905, Cemal Işıksel was the son of Hasan Fehmi Efendi, the religious scholar who penned the fatwa prepared against the Istanbul Government. Cemal Isiksel took his first photograph of Atatürk at the station while on a journey to Afyon in 1924 to attend the second anniversary celebrations of the Dumlupınar Victory.

He later participated in all of Atatürk’s tours around the country as his personal photographer. Falih Rıfkı Atay wrote in one of his articles, “The late leader had chosen Cemal among all the photographers.”

He also took photographs of foreign statesmen who visited Turkey and created a very rich photographic archive of the first 40 years of the Turkish Republic. Some of the photographs he took of Atatürk were printed on money and stamps.

In 1926, upon the call of Yunus Nadi, the founder of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, he transferred to Cumhuriyet. Later, upon Atatürk’s request, he also became a photojournalist for Hakimiyet-i Milliye and Ulus Newspapers. He ended his photojournalist career, which he continued actively until 1956, in 1963.

Cemal Işıksel describes the interest Atatürk showed his photographers in his interview with Abdi İpekçi, published in Milliyet Newspaper on November 6, 1972, as follows:

“In 1932, the members of the First History Congress were given tea at the Marmara Mansion. I went there too. I was waiting for a suitable pose to take a picture there: Atatürk saw me. He turned around and said to the history professors and history lecturers who had surrounded him: “In this country,” he said. “We have destroyed all tyrannies, but we could not get rid of Cemal’s tyranny. Tell me child, how do you want to take a picture, where should we stand, how should we stand?”

Of course I felt deeply embarrassed, and said, “As you wish, Pasha.” Because I had not expected such a compliment. ” I said, “the professors may come this way around you, I shall take a photo like that.”

“Okay,” he said. “gather around me“. This is one of my best memories.”

Işıksel, who opened 26 exhibitions on Atatürk Photographs, the first of which was on November 10, 1965, in the German Cultural Center exhibition hall in Ankara, turned his apartment in Ankara into a permanent Atatürk Photographs exhibition in 1969 and created an Atatürk album from these photographs (1969).

Cemal Işıksel, died in Istanbul in 1989.

(*1) Photographers of Ataturk (in Turkish)

(*2) Article “Photographers of Ataturk” by Seyit Ali Ak (Hürriyet Sanat & Edebiyat Magazine “Gösteri”, Issue No:30 May 1983 sayısı, p. 22)

cover image: FİBHaber