INFO326_A

Contact

ci@cidemi.fyi
@ci_demi

Biography

Ci Demi (he/him — b. 1986, Istanbul, Türkiye) is an Istanbulite photographer. He studied Italian Literature at Istanbul University. At 28, he discovered photography.

His photographs have been featured in prominent publications like Foam Magazine and the British Journal of Photography. Demi's work has been showcased at renowned festivals and venues, including Les Rencontres d'Arles, Istanbul's Pera Museum, and Milan's Mudec.

In 2022, his series “Unutursan Darılmam” (No Offence If You Forget, 2018—2024) was selected as the winner of Discovery Awards at Encontros da Imagem photography festival.

Onagöre published Demi's debut photobook, “Şehir Fikri” (Notion of a City, December 2022), an eerie portrayal of Istanbul marked by the absence of people, animals, and language. Inspired by Georges Perec's oulipo novel “La Disparition” (A Void, 1969), the book focuses on the city's haunting essence.

His personal work investigates the psychogeography of his city, merging intimate narratives of the landscape with his own lived experiences. While he adopts a documentarian approach to his images, ensuring they are always unstaged, his use of colour to convey a “quiet tension” is prominent in his work.

He is a documentary photographer whose work is frequently featured in publications such as The New York Times, the Financial Times, and Der Spiegel.

He is a member of Connected Archives and an affilite of PLATFORM by GAPO. Prints of his work are available at Şule Gazioğlu Gallery (Istanbul/London) and Sunday Paris (Europe).

Selected clients

Publications

Elle Italia
Libération
Geo
Harvard Business Manager
Zeit Online
Aposto
Harper’s Bazaar Italia
11Freunde
Der Spiegel
Society
Financial Times
The New York Times
Zeit Magazin
Die Zeit
Kaos GL
Altyazı
Frankie Magazine

NGOs

Climavore x Jameel at RCA (Campaign)
Better Shelter (Campaign)

Music

Salon İKSV
Zorlu PSM
Simge Pınar
Deniz Tekin
Sofar Sounds Istanbul (2015 - 2018)

Others

484 Production
Urban Istanbul
Reflect Studio

Curriculum vitae

Books

2026 Unutursan Darılmam (No Offence If You Forget, self-published)
2022 Şehir Fikri (Notion of a City, Onagöre)

Awards

2026 Winner, Emerging Talents, Narrativa (5th edition)
2025 Winner, Fondazione Capri: the Festival of Photography in Capri (17th edition)
2022 Winner, Discovery Awards, Encontros da Imagem

Nominations

2024 Prix Pictet 2025
2024 C/O Berlin Talent Award 2025
2024 Joop Swart Masterclass
2022 Leica Oskar Barnack Award

Shortlists

2025 OD Photo Prize 2025
2025 InCadaqués Photo Festival Open Call
2025 Verzasca Foto Festival Awards
2025 Images Vevey Book Award 2025-26
2024 Dear Dave, Fellowship
2023 Foam Talent Call 2024-25
2023 Belfast Photo Festival
2021 212 Photography Istanbul

Grants

2018 SAHA, Travel grant for Les Rencontres d’Arles

Teaching

2023 Istanbul in My Lens: Photographing the City, Workshop and portfolio review, Pera Museum

Selected shows

2026

Photo London 2026 / Şule Gazioğlu Gallery / London, United Kingdom / Fair
100 Fotografie per ereditare il mondo (100 Photographs to Inherit the World) / Mudec (Museo delle Culture di Milano) / Milan, Italy / Curated by Denis Curti, in collaboration with Alessio Fusi & Alessandro Curti / Group

2025

OD Photo Prize ‘25 / Open Doors Gallery / London, UK / Group
InCadaqués Photo Festival / Cadaqués, Spain / Group, Festival
Unutursan Darılmam (No Offence If You Forget) / Festival of Photography in Capri (17th edition), La storia siamo noi / La Certosa di San Giacomo di Capri, Capri, Italy / Curated by Denis Curti / Duo, Festival
Verzasca Foto Festival, Notte della Fotografia / Ticino, Switzerland / Group, Festival

2024

What Makes a Home / Ideal Glass Studios / New York City, USA / In collaboration with Better Shelter / Group
Italo Calvino 100+1 Yaşında! (Italo Calvino Is 100+1 Years Old!) / Kıraathane / Istanbul, Türkiye / Curated by Bilge Bal & Sevil Enginsoy Ekinci / Group

2023

Love, Peace, and Harmony / ArtIstanbul Feshane / Istanbul, Türkiye / Curated by Bengü Gün / Group
Manzaradan Öte (Beyond the Landscape) / Mixer / Istanbul, Türkiye / Duo

2022

2022—2023 Zamane İstanbulları (Istanbuls Today) / Pera Museum (catalogue) / Istanbul, Türkiye / Curated by Refik Akyüz & Serdar Darendeliler / Group
Unutursan Darılmam (No Offence If You Forget) / Mamut Art Project / Istanbul, Türkiye / Fair
Unutursan Darılmam (No Offence If You Forget) / Encontros da Imagem / Braga, Portugal / Solo, Festival

2018

A Pillar of Smoke / Jimei x Arles International Photography Festival / Xiamen, China / Group, Festival
A Pillar of Smoke / Galerie Paris-B / Paris, France / Group
A Pillar of Smoke / Les Rencontres d’Arles / Arles, France / Curated by Ilgın Deniz Akseloğlu & Yann Perreau / Group, Festival

Selected press

Statement

You see, I don’t often think about these things; I just do it, I take photos. I’ve attempted to trace the urge back to something, anything, but I came back with nothing. I simply don’t know what makes me do it. Surely, in time, it has gained an artistic intent; yet I call myself a photographer, not an artist. Not because the latter is such a divine title, but mainly because I find it doesn’t encapsulate this existence I’ve chosen.

In short, photographer is a better word for what I am. Primarily, it’s technical: it leads you to a measurable set of skills, which gives me an ease of mind. But I think, most importantly, it’s poetic: I was undeniably there, I took the photograph, and that’s more than enough to call myself one. A photographer; someone who works with photons, and so on. Yes, this is exactly why my work is, and will always be, documentarian.

But I photograph invisible things; I call it the quiet tension of Istanbul. I’ve always been after peculiar things in my stories. Everything started with me getting obsessed with a hotel construction site. Later, I started questioning the fabric of the city. Then, I couldn’t stop thinking about an earthquake that hasn’t happened yet. I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint what those pictures show, but you can’t deny that you feel it, too. The stories I’ve mentioned have laid the foundation of my approach.

Personal psychogeography has always been the best phrase to describe my method, if there has ever been one. Once, I said: “I’m a street photographer who turns his camera towards himself.” Not a bad quote, if you ask me. And it’s accurate, too. Ultimately, these aren’t simply photographic documents of the everyday in Istanbul; they are about how I navigate it, how I exist in it.

I move through each story with quiet curiosity, open-minded to where it might lead. Whether the moment is small and still or urgent and unfolding, I let the possibilities of our three-dimensional reality guide me. It’s this openness to different rhythms and deeper layers that shapes how I work. Always recording, always ready to scratch beneath the surface. Emotional, yes, but also deliberate. I’ve been doing this for a decade, after all.

It was before I met photography. One evening, I watched Dario Argento’s 1977 film Suspiria, and I couldn’t get over how beautiful the colours were. I had also been looking at a lot of paintings at the time, simply because I enjoyed getting lost in them; and the film taught me that colours can be a part of a narrative. So, in 2017, I tried to adapt them to my photos. I failed. Instead, I was left with something entirely unique to myself. To this day, I use more or less the same palette. I secretly believe that it’s the vessel for that feeling of unease in my stories.

But something is clearly amiss with the city. This is the only statement I want to leave behind with my photographs.

29 June 2025 14:42