Ömer Tevfik Erten - Photographer
Ömer Tevfik Erten aka ÖTE (b.1990, Mardin) is a photographer and curator working on the concepts of safe space, memory, minorities, activism and autonomy.
Erten believes that art is an important tool for awareness in gaining fundamental rights and freedoms, questions the possibilities of art and the artist, and takes action.
Ömer Tevfik is the co-curator of Through The Window Project , which is a solidarity and cooperation network project and aims to bring together Turkish and Dutch queer artists, activists and nightlife workers who lost their jobs and projects during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The photography project titled “Trans Identities in Turkey From Gezi to State of Emergency”, which he completed between 2013 and 2017, explores the housing problem of trans existences, activism, murders, and practices of resistance developed against precarity; It is a documentary photography project that took place in Ankara, Mersin and Istanbul. The social awareness project 'Guest*House' and the photographs of Turkey's first trans guesthouse, taken by Ömer Tevfik Erten, were turned into a photo book and a short documentary film in 2019. The project was supported by the Dutch Consulate General in Istanbul. ÖTE received the Seed Awards from the Prince Claus Fund in 2022.
The artist, who lives and works in Istanbul, is currently working on their new project.