Born in Istanbul in 1963, Süha Derbent has been working as a professional photographer for 30 years. Having begun his career as a journalist at Cumhuriyet newspaper, Derbent’s professional life continued as a photographer-writer at Atlas and Marie Claire magazines. After working as a visual director for Gezi National Geographic Traveler magazine for two years, he grew increasingly more interested in capturing travel and wild life photography. He worked in over 80 countries ranging from Scandinavia and Madagascar to Sri Lanka and Canada. Derbent brought to life a series of projects through the sponsorship of various airlines, photography companies, banks, and hotel chains.

Chasing wildlife and particularly animals known as big cats, he traveled across a number of countries and took photographs, which culminated in a rage of projects.

Derbent blazed a trail in April of 1998: Wile in India, he tracked down the Bengal Tiger, at risk of extinction in the 2000, and became the first Turkish wildlife photographer that succeeded in taking its photographs.

His first book Yüz Yüze (Face to Face) was released through İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları in 2002. The book received critical acclaim in the international press; CNN International broadcasted its Süha Derbent interview on World Report.

In 2003, Derbent collaborated with BP and Emirates in a joint project to draw attention to animals on the verge of extinction and lived in Africa for two months.

In 2006, he created a photograph-sharing site named fotofanclub, which attracted 35,000 members in merely two years. Derbent sold the site in 2009. His personal web page suhaderbent.com has received 32 international awards.

In 2011, Derbent finally realized a project he had long been dreaming about: he put together an exhibition entitled, 7 Cats comprised of images of the seven big cats of the world he photographed in their natural habitat. The exhibition was launched at Ekavart Gallery.

The state of Rwanda invited Derbent in 2015 to create the visual archive of the country. For one of the field works he did for this project, he lived with a family of mountain gorillas for 10 days.

In addition to his photography projects, Derbent also provides consultancy services on wildlife photography, travel organization, travel healthcare, and animal behavior to many individuals and corporations. Within this scope, he designs corporate projects and organizes customized travel packages for individuals looking to visit wildlife areas across the world. For the past seven years, Derbent has been writing for the Sunday supplement of Vatan newspaper; his page Süha Derbent’le Gezi (Travel with Süha Derbent) includes travel tips and articles on different cities. Published in many Turkish and foreign newspapers and magazines, his travel articles have exceeded hundreds of pages. Derbent’s personal archives hold more than two million photographs.

www.suhaderbent.com

https://www.facebook.com/suhaderbentwildlifephotography

https://www.instagram.com/suhaderbent/

suha.derbent@gmail.com