I am an hobbyist underwater photographer, albeit an enthusiastic one. Indeed, starting with my childhood, I have developed a great passion for oceans and their silent but tempting world. Yet, I became a diplomat rather than an ocean scientist. Having studied international relations at the Ankara University in Turkey, I joined the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And currently, I work at the Turkish Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. However, thanks to my profession, I had the opportunity to come across many oceans of the world and since 2003 have started capturing the inexplicably amazing moments beneath the surface with compact digital cameras. Later on, encouraged by my friends and colleagues, I launched a website in 2005 and named it "Colors of Oceans". This is where I share my underwater images and travel notes with the hope that the "colors" would help people to get a better understanding of the underwater world. In the meantime, I participated in two joint photo exhibitions and became a frequent contributor to the underwater magazines in Turkey. I featured an underwater photo exhibition entitled "Colors of Oceans Through a Diplomat's Lens" at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during UN Week Sept 8-19, 2008. The exhibit was the first of its kind in many respects as it was the first ever photo exhibition organized by a diplomat, solely dedicated to underwater photography in the United Nations building. The presentation of the exhibit was also unique as my underwater images were printed on a custom stretched fabric and backlit by energy efficient LED technology.
