Mehmet Bayhan

Born in Malatya in 1940, Mehmet Bayhan graduated from the Higher Architecture Department of the Istanbul State Academy of Fine Arts (İDGSA). After completing his military service as a reserve officer teacher, he worked as a freelance architect for a period. In 1979, he took part in the founding of the İDGSA Photography Institute and became the first full-time faculty member of the institution.

Bayhan played a significant role in the academic institutionalization of photography in Türkiye. He became an associate professor in 1987 and, in 1993, the first professor in the field of photography in Türkiye. He founded the Photography Research and Application Center at Yıldız Technical University and served as the dean of the Faculty of Art and Design. Bayhan passed away in 2023.

He played a pioneering role in the development of photography associations such as İFSAK, FOTOGEN, AFAD, and ANAFOD. He was honored by FIAP with the titles AFIAP, EFIAP, ESFIAP, and HonEFIAP. For his contributions to photography and culture, he received the Yıldız University Rectorate Gold Medal (1987) and France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques (1997). Through his writings, seminars, and organizational work, he left a lasting mark on the institutional and intellectual foundations of photography in Türkiye.