Education
Işık Kaya
2021 MFA in Visual Arts, University of California San Diego
2014 BA in Photography and Video, Istanbul Bilgi University (Full Scholarship)
2007 Tarsus American High School
Thomas Georg Blank
2019 Diplom (MFA) from AdBK Karlsruhe
2018 - 2019 Visiting Grad at UC San Diego / Center for Human Imagination
2017 - 2018 AdBK Karlsruhe with Prof. Markus Vater
2016 ENPEG La Esmeralda Mexico City with Gustavo Artigas
2013-2016 AdBK Karlsruhe with Prof. Silvia Bächli
2010-2013 BA Cultural and Media Education at Hochschule Merseburg
Selected Exhibitions
2024
‘PHOTO 2024’, Melbourne, Australia (forthcoming)
2023
‘HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT’, Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY, USA (forthcoming)
‘AS ABOVE, SO BELOW’, FOMA Santa Fe, NM, USA (forthcoming)
‘OSLO NEGATIV 2023’, Veterinary College, Oslo, Norway
‘THE NATURAL WORLD - 20/20 Photo Festival’, Philadelphia, PA, USA
‘INTO THE UNCANNY VALLEY’, Marshall Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
‘KRANJ PHOTO FESTIVAL HUMAN - NATURE’, Kranj, Slovenja
‘BY DEGREES’, Huntington Beach Art Center, CA, USA
‘FAKE PLASTIC FOREST’, Sabinal Photo Hall Gallery TSU, San Marcos, TX, USA
‘RAKFAF’, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates
2022
‘PhEST - FESTIVAL INTERNAZIONALE DI FOTOGRAFIA E ARTE’, Monopoli, Italy
‘L’IMAGE_SATELLITE - FESTIVAL PHOTOGRAPHIE CONTEMPORAINE’, le 109, Nice, France
‘ATHENS PHOTO FESTIVAL’, Benaki Museum / Pireos 138, Athens, Greece
‘FAKE PLASTIC FOREST’, Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio, TX, USA
‘MESNOGRAPHIES EDITION #2’, Parc Municipal des Mesnuls, Les Mesnuls, France
‘ÉCLAIRAGE PUBLIC’, Le 109, Nice, France
‘PHOTOPOLIS: STAGING THE REAL’, Agrinio Photo Festival, Agrinio, Greece
‘SECOND NATURE’, Windmill Gallery, Las Vegas, NV, USA
2021
‘VON MÖGLICHEN WELTEN’, Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland
‘RESISTING PERMANENCE’, Kunsthalle Mulhouse, France
‘LISHUI PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL’, Lishui Art Museum, Lishui, China
‘VANTAGE POINT SHARJAH 9′, Sharjah Art Foundation Al Hamriyah Studios, Sharjah, UAE
‘BERLIN PHOTO WEEK’, Urban Banks Berlin, Germany
‘MEASUREMENTS OF PROGRESS’, San Diego Art Institute (ICA San Diego), San Diego, USA
‘CRUDE’, Main Gallery UCSD, San Diego, USA
‘DES HERBES FOLLES’, CEAAC, Strasbourg, France
‘PRIX LEVALLOIS’, Théâtre La Passerelle, Gap, France
‘NATIONAL COMPETITION’ (Juror: Kris Graves), Soho Photo Gallery, New York, USA
2020
‘EARTH PHOTO’, Royal Geographical Society, London, UK
‘DIE DIGITALE DÜSSELDORF’, Weltkunstzimmer, Düsseldorf, Germany
‘SOLO SHOW’, Kunstkraftwerk, Leipzig, Germany
‘PRIX LEVALLOIS’, Galerie de L’Escale, Levallois-Perret, France
‘SOCIAL’, CICA Museum, Gimpo, Korea
‘BEGEHUNGEN’, Kaufhalle, Chemnitz, Germany
‘LA VITA DELL’ARTE’, A60 Contemporary Art Space, Italy
‘OPEN STUDIOS EXHIBITION’, UCSD Main Gallery, San Diego, USA
2019
‘HELMPFLICHT’, Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
‘MONUMENTS’, UCSD Commons Gallery, San Diego, USA
‘MAGIC SPRINGS IN A PLANETARY GARDEN’, After 1920, San Diego, USA
Awards
KRANJ PHOTO FESTIVAL, Honorable Mention (2023)
PHOTO LUCIDA CRITICAL MASS, Top 50 (2021)
VANTAGE POINT SHARJAH 9, Winner (2021)
DAVID ANTIN PRIZE, Winner (2021)
BARTUR PHOTO AWARD, Judges Choice (2021)
PHMUSEUM PHOTOGRAPHY GRANT, Shortlisted (2021)
BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL, Highly Commended (2021)
GOMMA GRANT, First Prize (2020)
PRIX LEVALLOIS, Audience Award (2020)
VIENNA INTERNATIONAL PHOTO AWARD, Honorable Mention (2020)
PRIX DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE PARIS PX3, Honorable Mention (2020)
TEXAS PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, ‘New Visions’, Honorable Mention (2020)
EARTH PHOTO, Finalist (2020)
PERTH CLIP AWARD, Finalist (2020)
RUSSELL FOUNDATION GRANT, Awardee (2020)
UC SAN DIEGO INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES, Graduate Summer Research Fellowship (2020)