Richards' Gezi Park photos displayed in ?zmir

"It is Izmir which has chosen me," Charles Emir Richard says when he is asked why he chose to display "Barricade," his collection of photos from the Gezi Park events, in ?zmir for the first time in Turkey.

Standing at the heart of the Kedi Culture and Art Center, right on the port of ?zmir, the artist is surrounded by images of the "Great Protest" of 2013: two bare-chested demonstrators against a police vehicle; a single police officer at a corner, surveying the empty street; two young people, one with a Vendetta mask, kissing each other against a backdrop of protests; two figures in T-shirts and gas masks running through a police line; police gathering together to put up barriers. 

The expositions, which provide a glimpse of the wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey at the urban development plan for Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park, as well as a wide range of concerns from freedom of expression to secularism, will continue in ?zmir until May 31 before moving on to Istanbul.

"We are very happy to display the photos in Turkey for the first time," said Güniz Can, who has been running the Kedi Culture and Arts Center since 2009 where art talks, workshops, competitions, interviews and panels are held. "All around me in those photos, there are courageous young people, who demonstrated non-violently, despite everything. ?zmir is also a city of courageous young people," she added as she introduced Richards for a conference.

Richards, whose mother is Turkish and father American, is an Istanbul-based artist who specializes in directing music videos and commercials. With several national and international awards to his credit, he has shot commercials for Coca Cola, Fanta, Garanti Bankas? and Sony. He is also the name behind Manga's ...