PROFILE




CI DEMI
ci@cidemi.art
Instagram

Hello! I’m Ci, an Istanbul-based photographer exploring the psychogeography of the city through my personal work. My second photobook is currently in the crowdfunding phase at FiLBooks. You can license a curated selection of my pictures via Connected Archives.

Please email me for assignments or limited edition print inquiries.

  1. STORIES (INDEX)
  2. EXHIBITIONS
  3. TEARSHEETS
  4. TEXTS
  5. STORE
  6. POETRY

UPDATES

  • 30 May 2025: Shortlisted for Verzasca Foto Festival Awards 2025.
  • 24 March 2025: Shortlisted for the Images Vevey Book Award 2025/2026.
  • 24 January 2025: Featured in Dear Dave, Magazine Fellowship 2024.
  • 11 December 2024: Nominated for the Prix Pictet 2025.



INFORMATION




BIOGRAPHY
Ci Demi (he/him — b. 1986, Istanbul, Türkiye) is a photographer based in Istanbul. He studied Italian Language and Literature at Istanbul University. At 28, he discovered photography.

His photographs have been featured in prominent publications like Foam Magazine and the British Journal of Photography. Demi's work has been showcased at renowned festivals and venues, including Les Rencontres d'Arles and Istanbul's Pera Museum. 

In 2022, his series "Unutursan Darılmam" (No Offence If You Forget, 2018 - 2024) was selected as the winner of Discovery Awards at Encontros da Imagem photography festival.

Onagöre published Demi's debut photobook, "Şehir Fikri" (Notion of a City, December 2022), an eerie portrayal of Istanbul marked by the absence of people, animals, and language. Inspired by Georges Perec's oulipo novel "La Disparition" (A Void, 1969), the book focuses on the city's haunting essence.

His personal work explores the psychogeography of Istanbul, intricately weaving together intimate narratives of the city's landscape with his own lived experiences. While he adopts a documentarian approach to his images (ensuring they are always unaltered and unstaged), his use of colour to convey a “quiet tension” is prominent in his work.

He’s a member of Connected Archives and an affilite of PLATFORM by GAPO.


CVBooks

2025 Unutursan Darılmam (No Offence If You Forget, FiLBooks, To be published)
2022 Şehir Fikri (Notion of a City, Onagöre)

Awards

2022 Winner, Discovery Awards, Encontros da Imagem

Nominations

2024 Prix Pictet 2025
2024 C/O Berlin Talent Award 2025
2024 Joop Swart Masterclass
2022 Leica Oskar Barnack Award

Shortlists

2025 Verzasca Foto Festival Awards
2025 Images Vevey Book Award 2025/2026
2024 Dear Dave, Fellowship
2023 Foam Talent Call 2024-25
2023 Belfast Photo Festival
2021 212 Photography Istanbul

Grants

2018 SAHA, Travel grant for Les Rencontres d’Arles

Teaching

2023 Istanbul in My Lens: Photographing the City, Workshop and portfolio review, Pera Museum


CLIENTSPublications

Geo (Licensing)
Harvard Business Manager (Licensing)
Zeit Online (Editorial)
Aposto (Editorial)
Harper’s Bazaar Italia (Licensing)
11Freunde (Editorial)
Der Spiegel (Editorial)
Society (Editorial)
Financial Times (Editorial)
The New York Times (Editorial)
Zeit Magazin (Editorial)
Die Zeit (Editorial)
Kaos GL (Licensing)
Altyazı (Editorial)
Frankie Magazine (Editorial)

NGOs

Better Shelter (Editorial)

Music

Oil Giant (Album cover, Licensing)
Zorlu PSM (Editorial)
Simge Pınar (Single cover)
Deniz Tekin (Editorial)
Sofar Sounds (Editorial, 2015 - 2018)

Others

Première Vision (Licensing)
Reflect Studio (Commercial)



PRESS
Highlights

Dear Dave, Magazine (Portfolio, 2025) · Nowness (Video essay, 2024) · DPReview (Interview, 2023) · Foam Magazine (Feature, Print, 2023) · Turkey Book Talk (Podcast, 2023) · Creative Review (Photography Annual, Feature, Print, 2022) · British Journal of Photography (Feature, Print, 2022) · Booooooom (Feature, 2022) · WePresent (Profile, 2022)

Interviews

Lenscratch (Interview, 2024) · Raandoom (Interview, 2024) · Ve Diğer İşler (Podcast, 2024) · The Urbanaut Podcast (Podcast, 2024) · Onagöre Blog (Söyleşi, 2023) · Hyperallergic (Interview, 2023) · ArtDog Istanbul (Söyleşi, Print, 2023) · Calling #2 (Söyleşi, 2022) · Maviblau (Interview, 2022) · Yerden Yüksek (Açık Radyo, Söyleşi, 2022) · Calling (Söyleşi, 2022) · Bant Mag (Söyleşi, 2022) · 212 Studio (Instagram interview, 2022) · ERRR Magazine (Interview, 2022) · Anywhere Blvd (Interview, 2022) · Urbanautica (Interview, 2022) · allcitiesarebeautiful (Interview, 2022) · Fotoğraf Konuşmaları (Podcast, 2021) · Kaleydoskop (Interview, 2021) · Trendland (Interview, 2021) · VSCO (Interview, 2019)

Others

Rast Magazine (Hikaye, 2024) · this isn’t happiness #2 (Feature, 2024) · Perimetro (Feature, 2024) · photo-letter (Feature, 2024) · Adventure.com (Article, 2023) · Cargo (Feature, 2023) · revue EPIC (Feature, Print, 2023) · Safelight Paper (Feature, 2023) · Pera Museum Blog (Story, 2023) · Switch Magazine (Feature, Print, 2023) · Decalogue Magazine (Feature, 2022) · Der Greif (Feature, 2022) · Art Unlimited (Editorial, 2022) · Fisheye Magazine (Feature, 2022) · Bir Kare Bir Anlam (TRT 2, Documentary, Episode 13 & 17, 2022) · Broad Magazine (Feature, 2021) · Ain’t Bad (Feature, 2021) · C41 Magazine (Feature, 2021) · Subjectively Objective (Feature, 2021) · this isn’t happiness (Feature, 2021) · Istanbul Art News (Feature, Print, 2019) · Fabrika Zine (Feature, Print, 2018) · L'Œil de la Photographie (Feature, 2017) · GUP Magazine (Feature, 2017)

Mentions

Dear Dave, Magazine (Instagram feature, 2024) · Polka Magazine (Instagram feature, 2024) · Milk (Instagram feature, 2024) · Yogurt Magazine (Instagram feature, 2022) · The Museum of Modern Art (Instagram feature, 2022) · Nowness Asia (Instagram feature, 2021) · Noice Magazine (Instagram feature, 2021) · AnOther Magazine (Instagram feature, 2021)






Updated: 31 May 2025 09:50
EXHIBITIONS




Installations


What Makes a Home (2024)
Ideal Glass Studios, New York City, USA



Her Şeyin Kötü Gittiğine Dair Emareler (Signs That Everything Is Going Wrong, 2016 - 2022)
Zamane İstanbulları (Istanbuls Today, 2022 - 2023)
Pera Museum (Pera Müzesi), Istanbul, Turkey



Unutursan Darılmam (No Offence If You Forget, 2018 - 2024)
Encontros da Imagem (2022)
Largo do Paço, Braga, Portugal



Selected shows


2025

  • Kompleks (Complex) / AOS51 / Istanbul, Turkey / Curated by Ceren & Irmak Arkman / Group
  • Borderless Art Book Days / Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat / Istanbul, Turkey / With FiLBooks / Fair

2024

  • What Makes a Home / Ideal Glass Studios / New York City, USA / In collaboration with Better Shelter / Group
  • Italo Calvino 100+1 Yaşında! (Italo Calvino Is 100+1 Years Old!) / Kıraathane / Istanbul, Turkey / Curated by Bilge Bal & Sevil Enginsoy Ekinci / Group

2023

  • Love, Peace, and Harmony / ArtIstanbul Feshane / Istanbul, Turkey / Curated by Bengü Gün / Group
  • Manzaradan Öte (Beyond the Landscape) / Mixer / Istanbul, Turkey / Duo

2022

  • 2022 - 2023 Zamane İstanbulları (Istanbuls Today) / Pera Museum (catalogue) / Istanbul, Turkey / Curated by Refik Akyüz & Serdar Darendeliler / Group
  • Unutursan Darılmam (No Offence If You Forget) / Mamut Art Project / Istanbul, Turkey / Fair
  • Unutursan Darılmam (No Offence If You Forget) / Encontros da Imagem / Braga, Portugal / Solo, Festival

2018

  • A Pillar of Smoke / Jimei x Arles International Photography Festival / Xiamen, China / Group
  • A Pillar of Smoke / Galerie Paris-B / Paris, France / Group
  • A Pillar of Smoke / Les Rencontres d’Arles / France / Curated by Ilgın Deniz Akseloğlu & Yann Perreau / Group

2017

  • Postcards from Tarlabaşı / Pasaj / Istanbul, Turkey / Curated by Giorgio Caione & Christian Oxenius / Group