Robert Capa exhibition opens at Ara Güler Museum

ISTANBUL

A major exhibition dedicated to the legendary photographer Robert Capa has opened at the Ara Güler Museum, presenting a chronological journey through his career from his first professional work in 1932 to the last images taken before his death in 1954.

Organized in collaboration with the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center and the Hungarian Cultural Institute in Istanbul, the show offers a carefully curated selection of Capa’s works, including 37 photographs he captured in Türkiye in 1946.

“The exhibition provides a retrospective view of his life and career. It is also the most comprehensive Capa exhibition ever held in Türkiye and the first time we have dedicated an entire show to another photographer at the Ara Güler Museum,” said Tuana Pulak, the museum’s Exhibition Management and Project Development Director.

Highlighting Capa’s stature as one of the most influential photojournalists of the 20th century, Pulak emphasized that the display covers his defining assignments, from the Spanish Civil War to World War II. “It’s a very natural chronological curation, showing the most important reports of his 22-year career,” she said.

The Türkiye section documents Capa’s assignment for Time magazine in 1946, during which he spent two and a half months capturing scenes from Istanbul, Ankara and Anatolian towns. His lens documented everything from Istanbul’s mosques and palaces to Ankara Hippodrome, the Victory Monument and portraits of rural life across Anatolia.

Pulak noted that Capa’s work not only shaped the profession of photojournalism but also provided lasting visual records of the 20th century’s defining moments. “Some of his images have become symbols of war itself. This is a historically invaluable archive,” she said.

The exhibition “Robert Capa – The Truth Is the Best Picture” will remain on view at the Ara Güler Museum in Yapı Kredi Bomontiada until March 22, 2026.