Strolling through the picturesque Bakirköy district on the European side of Istanbul, you would walk past the Hilmi Nakipoglu Camera Museum without realising the treasure trove it holds. Since 1997, this museum displays the private collection of businessman Hilmi Nakipoglu and houses artefacts and instruments chronicling the history and evolution of the camera — the instrument that has played perhaps the biggest role in documenting history since the late 19th century.

“Think of every camera as a person who memorises what he sees. Every camera has a story, just like every person does. It has recorded everything related to bitter and sweet events. I believe those cameras too have different identities, like people,” Hilmi Nakipoglu, who founded Türkiye’s first camera museum, tells TRT World.

Camera lucida

Nakipoglu’s story with photography goes back to his early life. Born in Gaziantep in 1948 as the first child of a merchant father, Hilmi Nakipoglu came to Istanbul in 1958 with his family after his father relocated. His interest in photography began to grow due to the greater availability of cameras and other material like film rolls in the big city.

Slowly though, his interest in photography segued into a love for the instruments that take the photographs. By 1970, Nakipoglu had become a camera lover and collector.

By the time he launched the museum to display his private collection, he had collected an amazing variety of instruments from across the globe, with the earliest vintage going back to 1896. That is one year after motion pictures were officially invented by the Lumiere brothers.

Here, each lovingly restored and maintained instrument and photo frame is astonishingly beautiful. And old. The newest camera on display is half a century old.

“Over the years, I began building my collection by buying cameras. Especially during weekends. Sometimes even two or three. Wherever there was a camera sale, I was there. I knew a number of dealers in second-hand goods. When they got hold of a new instrument, they would call me right away. Now, I have accumulated around 1,000 cameras, and continue to collect,” adds Nakipoglu.

In the display are portable and non-portable studio cameras, double-lens cameras, spy or mini cameras, and polaroid cameras, including 60 brands from different countries.

Items from James Bond’s Q Branch

Of these, the spy cameras in particular attract a lot of attention. “I have instruments in the museum that take pictures on very thin films as small as 8 mm in length, which were used by spies of the time. Some of them look like cigarette lighters or fountain pens, others like fizzy drink cans meant to deceive people. Just as cameras were invented out of necessity, so were spy cameras miniaturised out of necessity.

For decades, Nakipoglu would exhibit his collection on which he had spent a fortune, in his house. All the while, he would tell his guests that he wanted to establish a museum in the future. “As [Michel de] Montaigne said,” says Nakipoglu, “No wind favours he who has no destined port.”

That day arrived in 1997. He set up the Nefus Nakipoglu School for Children with Intellectual Disability in the memory of his mother, Nefus. The empty top floor of the building became his cherished camera museum. For 25 years since then, Nakipoglu had welcomed visitors to this space, such as Rauf Denktas, the founder and first president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), who happens to be a photography enthusiast. Another famous regular is the famous Turkish-Armenian photographer Ara Guler.

Over time, he felt the need to relocate in order to do justice to his vast collection. That transpired in 2022, when Nakipoglu moved the museum to a heritage building in the Bakirköy district. The museum now also imparts training in photography, albeit in the digital medium, where children and youth are introduced to the collection and the culture around the hobby. Today, the museum hosts hundreds of visitors who are passionate about photography and cameras.

Perhaps, if you are in Istanbul, you too can drop by next weekend.

Source: TRTworld.com