Zeynel Yeşilay

Zeynel was born in 1950 in Şanlıurfa Turkey. He graduated from the department of French
Language and Literature at Gazi University in Ankara. His passion for photography started during
his secondary school years when his father gave him a Kodak box camera which he still
possesses. He started working at the Turkish Republic Tourism and Information Ministry in 1970,
where he worked until 1982, and at this time he had the opportunity to tour Turkey extensively.
He travelled widely in Anatolia in the company of foreign professional photographers and film
makers, benefiting from their expertise and guidance. His photo of the İshak Paşa Palace in
Doğubetazıt was printed as a poster by the Ministry in 1978, and his photographs have been used
in many books and prints in Turkey and abroad. He was posted to Cyprus in 1976, and the photos
he took there with photographer Olgun Özer were used in the posters and brochures of North
Cyprus.

During the time he worked for (TUTAV) Turkish Information Organisation a great many of Zeynel’s
photos were featured in the magazine “Image of Turkey,” where he was the photographic adviser,
and where he made multivision programmes. He has held joint and sole exhibitions, received
more than twenty prizes at international and national competitions, and has won more than
twenty awards. He has worked at the Anatolia Handcraft Centre, presided over by Guran Erbek,
where he worked with very valuable researchers and experts, took photos of Turkish Handcrafts
and organised exhibitions and publications and multivision shows. He has worked with the best
photographers in Turkey, Sami Güner, Sıtkı Fırat, Ozan Sağdıç, Haydar Volkan, and Mustafa
Türktılmaz. Zeynel Yeşilay, who started working at the Turkish Republic Prime Ministry in 1993,
became the secretary and chief advisor of the deputy Prime Ministers Necmettin Cevheri, Nahit
Menteşe, Tansu Çiller and Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit.

His book “Turkey, An Endless Poem,” which comprises of photos he took in Turkey, was printed
and published in December 2000 by the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

In November he was promoted to Expert Advisor at the Turkish Republic Embassy in Nicosia. He
made great efforts to develop the two fields he was responsible for - tourism and further
education - and helped to improve their infrastructure. In November 2003 he held an exhibition
called “Turkey, An Endless Poem” which comprised of pictures of Turkey. In 2005, on the 22 nd
anniversary of the foundation of the TRNC, he held another exhibition called “North Cyprus, and
Endless Poem” with 160 photos. He also made multivision shows at the same exhibition. He has
shown those multivision shows in the various universities of the island. He has been all around
North Cyprus, which is highly photogenic, and has taken nearly 100,000 photos. His admiration of
the natural environment is reflected in his photos.

Many of Zeynel’s pictures have been used as front covers of “Tourism Monthly,” the tourism
publication of the Hotel Owners Union KITOB, and his writings about historical and touristic
matters in Cyprus have been published in this magazine. He has taken part in the survey of
villages and nature by the Photography Union, and he took photos with Cypriot photographers. He
has taken part in exhibitions organized by FODER (Photography Union). He held a small exhibition
called “North Cyprus, an Endless Poem”, on the 23rd Anniversary of the foundation of the TRNC
organized by the TRNC Embassy in Ankara. His six photos were exhibited at an exhibition which
took place both in north and south Cyprus where American and Cypriot photographers worked
together. 8-10 September in Karachi- Pakistan he held an exhibition called Turkey An Endless
Poem which comprised of 70 pictures of Turkey

Zeynel the artist is married to the poet and song writer İlter Yeşilay, and they have a son called
Mesut Volkan who is a web-designer and musician.