German
photographer sees conflict with lens
Friday, October
5, 2007
Claudius Schulze is a Conflict Analysis
and Resolution student at Sabanci University and is kicking off his school year
with a photograph exhibition on the terrorist bombing in Jordan. Schulze
captures with his lens the renovated hotels one year after the bombings and
pairs them with news clippings of the horrific events.
RUTH STEUERWALD
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News
Sixty
people died in bombings carried out by terrorists at three Western hotels in
Amman, Jordan on Nov. 9, 2005. A year after the attacks, one man went back to
photograph what, if anything, was left of the horrendous devastation wrecked on
the hotels.
Claudius
Schulze's photographs of one hotel are on display in an exhibit titled “Bombsite
Revisited” at the Gaf Theater in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district.
“The
hotel is completely renovated. There is nothing that reminds you of the attacks
anymore,“ Schulze said. “As if there were no attacks, as if there
was no conflict.“
The
photographs are accompanied by graphic news accounts of the bombings, creating
an almost eerie juxtaposition.
Schulze
has a knack for combining conflict and photography, his professional work and
passion, respectively.
He
has documented his travels, including the three months he worked in Amman,
Jordan as an intern at Transparency International, as a delegate at a United
Nations conference and his visits to Burma and Ecuador.
“Conflicts
were always at the center of my photographic work,” he said.
Schulze
came from Hamburg to the Bosporus a couple of weeks ago to obtain his masters
degree. He says what mainly drove him to do so was the belief that studies
abroad will be a worthy experience. His fascination with Istanbul also played a
part in bringing him here.
“Few
universities in Europe offer a master's degree in conflict analysis,” he
said, “and in Turkey, you can only study it at Sabanci University. But I
am very happy to be here in Istanbul; I could hardly find a more interesting
place.”
One
reason for his fascination with Istanbul is that he has always been searching
for what “Europeanness” is and where it comes from. “And so
far, I see – doubtless – Istanbul as a very, very European
city,” he said.
Another
aspect that makes the city appealing to him is his interest in Islam and the
Near and Middle East, and the fact that he sees Istanbul as a gateway to this
area.
He
explains that his interest in oriental culture derives from the belief that
what is today seen as two very distinguished cultures, oriental and occidental,
have a common basis that is about to be forgotten.
“If
you look at science and philosophy, the understanding of time as continuous in
modern Europe, you can clearly see the Eastern influence,” he said,
“but at some point, an extreme strong division occurred. Why? What was at
the base of this?” he said.
Application
not all that easy
It
was not all that easy, though, to be accepted at the private Sabanci
University. Even though foreign applicants, unlike their Turkish colleagues, do
not have to pass the national university entrance exam (ÖSS), they still have
to prove their skills in the challenging Graduate Record Examination (GRE),
which measures analytical thinking and verbal expression skills.
In
his span4 weeks, Schulze is satisfied by his new learning environment: The
seminars are less full then in Germany; the professors seem more motivated to
him.
“I
am planning on a practical career in the field of conflict resolution and peace
work,” he said. “I am sure that a master in a foreign country will
be helpful for finding a good job in that area.”
He
wonders why only one university in Turkey offers a degree in conflict
resolution, considering the country's geographical situation with diverse
ethnicities and very different lifestyles meeting up here.
“But
this aspect makes it, of course, more interesting for me to study here,”
he said.
Practical
aspects have been important for the student ever since he started writing for
German dailies Hamburger Morgenpost and Taz, reporting mainly on aspects
related to his fields of study, and especially since he discovered his passion
for photography.
“Still
I wonder if photography is not the profession I belong to,” he said,
“but then I think I can combine my interest in conflict and peace with
photography. It is a big issue how conflicts should or can be represented and
shown, an issue that shows itself in all my photography work.”
Conflicts
reflected in photography
He
admits that he sees many possible motives in Istanbul, and said he is currently
developing concepts to document them.
“The
city's recent development, it's position, and the development of Turkey: I find
it extremely interesting and am happy to be here for the next two years,”
he said.
For
more information, visit www.gaf-istanbul.org.
© 2005 Dogan
Daily News Inc. www.turkishdailynews.com.tr
