Attila Durak was born in Gümüşhane, Turkey in 1967, and graduated from the Middle East Technical University with a BA degree in economics. He pursued his interest in photography while working for NCR and Leo Burnett. After managing the well-known Eylül Jazz Club in Istanbul, he moved to New York City in 1996, and attended the School of Visual Arts, the Fine Arts Department of Hunter College and several workshops at the International Center of Photography.
Attila Durak, whose works have been published in several magazines, newspapers, and catalogs, worked on a number of documentation projects in Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Greece, Spain, Hungary, England, Peru, Canada, and the United States.
Although Durak’s main interest lies in documentary photography, he has also been captivated by the creative opportunities that experimental photography offers. His interest in experimenting with color and various printing techniques resulted in Echoes of the Street, a series on the street artists of New York City. Echoes of the Street was exhibited at Duggal Underground Gallery (2000, New York, NY), Gallery Artist (2003, Istanbul), Siyah Beyaz Art Center (2005, Ankara), Gallery Orkun & Ozan (2005, Antalya) and Jazz Now Gallery & Art Center (2006, Bodrum). His other solo exhibitions include Ankara in the Past (1990, Ankara) and Creating Imperfection (2000, Dallas, TX).
Durak also participated in a number of group shows including Xtreme Xteriors presented by Gallery X (1999, New York, NY); Untitled Group Show in the International Independent Film & Video Festival (1999, New York, NY); Untitled Group Show (1999, Dallas, TX); Europe Day 2004 - Celebrating EU Enlargement through Art, Benefiting Adopt-A-Minefield organized by the European Commission’s Delegation to the United Nations (2004, New York, NY); and 2005 Collection at Istanbul Photography Center (Istanbul, 2005).
Between 2000-2007, Attila Durak worked on his first book project, Ebru: Reflections of Cultural Diversity in Turkey.
Ebru's photographs will be exhibited at Binbirdirek Cistern (Philoxenus) in Istanbul, Turkey between June 19 - July 9, 2007.
Attila Durak lives in New York City and Istanbul.
