Cansu Yıldıran's (They/Them - Istanbul, 1996) (pronounced Jan-Sue Yuhl-duh-rahn) art practice can be regarded as a persistent and passionate quest for 'home.' Throughout this journey in pursuit of the concept of home, the stops can be a body, a place, an emotion, friends, or a community.
Yıldıran documents various stories and stages non-normative tales and rituals through visual arts, drawing inspiration from personal experiences as they narrate their stories. While the starting point of their stories may originate from personal connections and concerns, they also draw inspiration from social movements, collective memory and oral history delving and gaining layers through and prolonged examination.
They have exhibited their works at FOAM, Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam, Netherlands; the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Greece; Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey; Pinakothek der Moderne, Germany; Odunpazarı Modern Museum, OMM, Eskişehir, Turkey; Elgiz Museum, Istanbul, Turkey; Leica Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey; the Arles Photography Festival, France; and the Verzasca Foto Festival, Switzerland. Yıldıran has participated in photography book workshops with publishers Kazuma Obara and Calin Kruse, and received a one-year Women Photograph mentorship from Nicole Tung. Their works have been published in Visa pour I’image, Photography Festival (Visa Woman Paper) , Aperture, British Journal of Photography, Dazed Magazine, Washington Post, and The Guardian. Cansu Yıldıran is one of the twenty exceptional artists featured in the Foam Talent 2024-2025 Group Exhibition and Foam Magazine Talent 2024-2025 Issue.
In 2024, Yıldıran was nominated for Magnum Photos, Counter Histories Fellowship, won the FOAM Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam Talent Award. Previous awards include the Women Photograph Project Grant in 2022. In 2021, Yıldıran won first place in the Resistance category of the All Out Photo Award, an international LGBTIQ+ activism award presented in collaboration with MTV. The winning images were showcased at New York and Copenhagen Pride events and in galleries worldwide. Additionally, Yıldıran was nominated for the Foam Paul Huf Award in 2023. They were also shortlisted for the PhMuseum Photography Grant main prize in 2021. In 2018, Yıldıran was selected for the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass.
Cansu continues to work in their studio located in Istanbul.
Membership
Women Photograph
Solo Exhibitions:
19.01.2025 - 16.03.2025, Raum für Fotografie, Coalmine, What Remains, curated by Annette Amberg, Zurich, CH
05.10.2024 - 10.11.2024, Protocinema and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, The Arts Center at Governors Island, Haunt the Present,
curated by Mari Spirito, NY
12.09.2024 - 31.10.2024, allerArt Bludenz, Shelter, curated by Luka Berchtold, Austria, AT
07.09.2024 - 26.01.2025, Hara, Blossoms of Farewell, curated by Onur Karaoglu and Serkan Kaptan Istanbul, TR
Grants and Awards:
2025, Leica Oskar Barnack Award, Nominated
2024, Magnum Photos, Counter Histories Fellowship, Nominated
2024, C/O Berlin Talent Award, Nominated
2024, FOAM Talent Award, 2024-2025, NL
2022, Foam Paul Huf Award, Nominated, NL
2022, Women Photograph Project Grants, Winner, US
2021, All Out and MTV Photo Award 2021, Resisting Category, Winner, US
2021, PH Museum Photography Grant, New Generation Prize, Honorable Mentions, IT
2021, PH Museum Photography Grant Main Prize Shortlist, Finalist, IT
2020, ICP / GOST First Photo Book Award, Finalist, UK
2020, Verzasca Foto Festival Awards, Bronze Medal, CH
2018, World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass, Selected, NL
2016, Istanbul Photography Festival, Winner, TR
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2025, The Dispossessed, 15th Shanghai Biennale, curated by Kitty Scott, China
2025, Narrative Power Alliance, curated by Onur Karaoglu and Alper Turan, Barın Han Center, TR
2024, Critical Shifts, The Dispossessed, curated by Margarita Osepyan, Maria Korolkova and Kate Umnova, Barin Han Centre, TR
2024, Foam Talent Award, The Dispossessed, Foam Museum, Amsterdam, NL
2024, Foam Talent Award, Fathom, Digital Exhibition
2024, Queer Festival Heidelberg, Queer Heroes in Focus, Fathom, DE
2024, Resident Soils, curated by Yasemin Ülgen, Eldem Art Space, Eskişehir, TR
2023, HARA, Bir Yer Var, Oberonya, curated by Onur Karaoglu - Canan Bozbag, Istanbul, TR
2023, Anna Laudel Galery, Seni Sevmeyen Ölsün, Shelter, curated by Gülben Çapan, Istanbul, TR
2023, Pavillon 333, Pinakothek der Moderne + Der Greif, Fathom, “Past & Present”, München, DE
2023, Verzasca Foto Festival- Exhibition, The Dispossessed, Switzerland, CH
2022, Veintinueve Trece, The Dispossessed, Lanzarote, ES
2022, SALT Beyoglu, Foodprint: Mediterranean Diet Revisited, Istanbul, TR
2022, Change of Plans, Mixer Art Space, curated by Cemre Yeşil Gönenli, Istanbul, TR
2022, Volkskundenmuseum, curated by Alper Turan, Vienna, AT
2021, Bilsart, The Dispossessed, curated by Melike Bayık, Istanbul, TR
2021, “Kurdish Trans Women”, All Out and MTV Photo Award, Times Square Arts New York City, US
2021, Ph Museum Photography Award, New Generation Prize Honorable Mention, Exhibition, CH
2021, A Finger for an Eye, Protocinema - Poşe Gallery, curated by Alper Turan, Istanbul, TR
2020, The International Queer - Minorities Film Festival, Safer Space, Vienna, AT
2020, Verzasca Foto Festival - Awards Exhibition, The Dispossessed, Switzerland, CH
2020, Art Palm Beach Fair, Florida, US
2019, Borgo Futuro Festival, Shelter, Ripe San Ginesio, IT
2019, Queer Festival Heidelberg, Shelter, DE
2018, Elgiz Museum, Resource Utopia, curated by Volkan Kızıltunç, Istanbul, TR
2018, Leica Gallery, A Room Of One's Own, Yasemin Elçi, Istanbul, TR
2018, On the Frontiers of Freedom The Rencontres d’Arles, curated by Serra Yenturk, Arles, FR
2018, Arles Photo Festival, Voies Off Arles Exhibition, Arles, FR
2018, Common Places/Parallel Stories, Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Thessaloniki, GR
2018, Geniş Açı Dergiden Proje Ofisine, DEPO, curated by Serdar Darendeliler and Refik Akyüz, Istanbul, TR
2018, Becoming Cure as Care, Daire Sanat, curated by Cemre Yeşil Gönenli, Istanbul, TR
2018, FUAM Photobook Festival, Composite exhibition, Tophane-i Amire Culture & Arts Center, Istanbul, TR
2017, Photozine Exhibion, FailBooks, Istanbul, TR
2017, Homecoming, Noks Independent Art Space, curated by Ezgi Bakcay and Volkan Kızıltunç, Istanbul, TR
2017, Sicily Photobook Festival, Dummy Book Exhibition, Sicily, IT
2017, Kopuntu Presents “Confusion” at Macao, curated by Milen Nae, Milano, IT
2016, Istanbul Photography Festival, Istanbul, TR
Workshops, Fellowship and Residencies:
2025, Cité internationale des arts, Artist Residency Program, FR
2024, Haravan, Artist Residency Program, TR
2024, Perasma Project, Artist Residency Program, GR
2021, Nikon - Noor Academy - Masterclass; with Andrea Bruce, Pep Bonet, Heba Khamis
2020, Transformative Art Project for Activists, Artist Residency Program, TR
2018, Storytelling in İstanbul: City of a Million Tales, VII Agency, TR
2018, World Press Photo Master Class Foundation - JSM, Selected, NL (Due to unforeseen circumstances Cansu Yildiran has been deferred to the next edition of the Joop Swart Masterclass. We hereby introduce Alfredo Bosco, the first runner-up, as a 2018 JSM participant.)
2018, World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass, Nominated
2018 - 2019, Women Photograph Mentorship Class, Mentorship; Nicole Tung, TR
2018, Resource Utopia , Andreas Rost, Michael Biedowicz, Volkan Kızıltunç , Goethe-Institut İstanbul, NOKS Art Space, Istanbul, TR
2018, ‘Photobook Workshop with Kazuma Obara, FUAM, Istanbul, TR
2017, Diyarbakir Photography and Youth Project; Marieke van der Velden, Sonia Jeunet, Evelien Kunst, Diyarbakir, TR
2017, Geniş Açı Photography Workshop, SALT Ulus; Serdar Darendeliler, Refik Akyüz, Ankara, TR
2017, Photobook Workshop with Calin Kruse, FUAM, Istanbul, TR
Selected Press, Publications, and Interviews:
Aperture, A Photographer Captures the Experience of Dispossession in Turkey, Kaya Genc, 2024
The Foam Magazine Talent 2024-2025 Issue, Fathom, Zeynep Kubat, 2024
LENSCRATCH, Artist of Turkey: Cansu Yildiran, Mehves Lelic, 2024
FOAM, Women of Karadeniz are strong A Closer Look at the Work of Cansu Yıldıran, Refik Akyüz, 2023
Pera Museum, Today's Stories: Felis by Hande Ortaç, 2022
GUP Magazine, The Dispossessed, Sophie Beerens, 2022
The Guardian, Fresh faces: striking images from debut photographers – in pictures, 2021
Protocinema, Protozine, A FINGER FOR AN EYE, Alper Turan, 2021
Bant Mag, Cem Kayıran, Ekin Sanaç, Cansu Çubukçu, 2021
ICP / GOST, First Photo Book Award 2020 - Winner Announced, 2020
Unlimited, Binbir Kur Gece Masalları, Eda Yiğit, 2020
Z-ONE, Zone Magazine, Ali Beşikçi, Bülent Erkmen, 2020
British Journal of Photography, Give me Shelter, Tom Seymour, 2021
A Portrait of Turkey's Generation Y, Shelter, PH Museum, Rocco Venezia, 2019
Sanrı Fanzine, Interviews and Cover Photo, 2019
Istanbul Art News, Evrim Şener, 2018
Burn Magazine, 2018
British Journal of Photography, BJP, Announcing the 2018 Joop Swart Masterclass participants, 2018
Visa Pour I’Image Photography Festival, Visa Woman Paper, Anna Alix Koffi, France, 2017