Their portfolio is a play of shapes and movements. Images of refined colour, sprinkled with humour and deeply inspired by surrealism. She’s Ulas Kesebir. He is Merve Turkan.
Both have been imposing their style for ten years under the pseudonym Ulas & Merve. This duo of photographers and videographers, originally from Turkey, now lives in England and they work between Istanbul and London. Their credo is fashion and art, through still and moving images that redefine self-expression, everyday life and domestic spaces. Minimalist settings, primary colours, draping and designer objects combine perfectly in their compositions. A case in point is their mini-films for Mlouye, which playfully make the models of this handbag and shoe brand dance. Other works also show self-portraits in a play of distortion of the body, clothes and objects between humour, delicacy and poetry. There’s a lot of Horst P. Horst, Irving Penn or Guy Bourdin in their approach. The influence of the great figures of photography is never far away. But the duo find their own contemporary identity, brilliantly breaking down rationality in favour of liberating imagination.
Crédits photos : © Ulas & Merve