Gulin Yigiter
Based in Türkiye, the artist works across portrait, landscape, documentary, travel, and aerial photography, focusing on rural life, nature, and cultural heritage. As a member of EFSA, she has taken part in many exhibitions and talks, earning recognition in national and international competitions. In 2020, she opened her first solo exhibition at Zeytinburnu Municipality in Istanbul. In 2024, she received the silver medal—second place globally—in the Individual Category of the FIAP Clubs’ World Cup. She sees photography as a powerful medium to document human stories and the spirit of time.
This award-winning photograph, which earned second place globally in the Individual Category of the 2024 FIAP Clubs’ World Cup, was taken at Yarışlı Lake in Burdur, Türkiye. Known for its striking salt patterns and vivid hues, Yarışlı is a saline lake that has been severely affected by drought and climate change in recent years. Once a more vibrant ecosystem, the lake is now a powerful visual symbol of environmental degradation and ecological fragility.
The image captures the desolate beauty of the cracked lakebed, with remnants of water reflecting the sky—offering a haunting contrast between what was and what remains. The minimal human presence in the frame emphasizes nature’s vulnerability and raises urgent questions about our shared future.
Through composition and light, the photograph seeks not only to document a landscape in distress but also to evoke a quiet sense of loss. It serves as a visual witness to the drying lakes of Anatolia and the broader consequences of a warming planet.
By framing this transformation with both aesthetic sensitivity and documentary intent, the work invites viewers to reflect on the cost of environmental neglect—and the stories that parched earth can still tell.
This photograph, taken in Erzincan at –19°C, won first place in the 2023 “Gökyüzünden Türkiye Güzellikleri” (Turkey’s Beauties from the Sky) competition. Captured by drone, it reveals the harmony of nature and human-made patterns in a snow-covered Anatolian landscape.
Despite the extreme cold, the scene reflects a quiet beauty frozen fields, soft light, and geometric lines coming together from above. The image transforms an ordinary winter view into a striking visual story that speaks of endurance, balance, and the silent elegance of rural Türkiye.
More than a landscape, it’s a moment of stillness witnessed from the sky.
