Master Thesis Defense: Caitlin Marie Miles

Shutter, Click, Social Change:

An Examination Of The Nar Photos Collective

Caitlin Marie Miles
Cultural Studies, MA Thesis, 2015

Thesis Jury
Banu Karaca(Thesis Supervisor), Ayşe Öncü, Clemencia Rodrigez

Date &Time: June,2nd 2015 – 17:00

Place: Karaköy Minerva Han

Abstract

The present thesis explores the practice and ethos of the Istanbul-based Nar Photos Collective. Based on both ethnographic semi-structured interviews and visual analysis, this research specifically examines the complex layers through which Nar Photos produces and disseminates their photography as means to critique normative socio-cultural and political codes and accounts. This thesis critically examines how Nar Photos comes to position itself in a variety of ways as an actor involved in a complex process of socio-political change within the Turkish context. This study focuses on Nar Photos’ construction of its practices in relation to a commitment of using photography as a means for understanding and expressing the world. This research reveals how Nar Photos negotiates their critical photographic perspective in relation to notions such as “social change” and their means of distribution and presentation, underscoring their movement across realms of media, art, and even hegemonic institutions. By focusing on the work of Nar Photos, this thesis aims to offer a scholarly intervention to highlight the interplay of visual culture, critical media practice, and politics.