Turkish photographer Erdal Inci has created a series of GIF “selfies”, digitally manipulating images of himself whilst engaged in simple action so that he becomes, in effect, an army of street performers. Mesmerizing visuals and a brilliant way to keep production costs down.
Like a carefully choreographed colony of ants, watch him/them stumble across a street, march through an Istanbul plaza, and race around a stairway – slim figures in dark clothing making marvelous patterns of movement and mass.
Inci starts with simple snapshots which he next transforms into animated loops. His typically black and white format capitalizes on the medium’s weaknesses, as GIF image palettes are limited to 256 colors, and best suited for visuals with well-defined “edges”.
Public spaces and the waterfront are his preferred settings – he has a short video of (“cloned”) seagulls in flight over the Bosphorus, below:
So now that he’s grabbed our attention, to what purpose can his visuals be used? Could they amplify conservation efforts? Can they raise awareness to the importance of shared urban spaces (such as Istanbul’s Gezi Park and Beirut’s Jesuit Gardens)?
Or is it enough that, immune from politicization, the curious images simply exist?
All images from Erdal Inci’s website
