Balıkesir National Photography Museum

Balıkesir National Photography Museum is Türkiye’s first photography museum. Its foundation was laid in 1996 with the opening of a dedicated section within the Kuvâ-yi Milliye Museum displaying cameras and accessories. The Balıkesir Art Photographers Association (BASAF), which established this section, began efforts to create an independent photography museum. In 2002, a 150-year-old stone building was allocated to BASAF by the Balıkesir Governorship. The vacant plot adjacent to the building was donated to the association by the Tan family of Balıkesir. Thus, work commenced to establish a photography museum and library on a total area of 470 square meters. The foundation stone for the library building was laid on 3 May 2003, and restoration of the museum building began shortly after. On 19 May 2004, the Emin Tan Photography Library, housing 1,500 works on photography, was opened. The restoration of the museum building was completed and it opened to the public on 19 May 2006.

^{Balıkesir National Photography Museum} (Balıkesir Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism)

The museum is housed in a two-story historic building and a three-story new building immediately adjacent to it, located on Ulus Street in the Dumlupınar Neighborhood of the Karesi District of Balıkesir. On the ground floor are the Contemporary Exhibition Hall, the İbrahim Zaman Room featuring biographies and personal belongings of individuals who contributed to photographic art in Balıkesir, the vitrine dedicated to Prof. Güler Ertan and Seyit Ali Ak, and the Ozan Sağdıç Room displaying badges, first-day covers and stamps related to photography. On the upper floor are the Machine Technologies Section showcasing antique cameras, the Mehmet Bekki Darkroom Vitrine Exhibition Hall where photographic prints are produced, a vitrine displaying historic Balıkesir photographs, and the Özkan Arıkantürk Vitrine exhibiting historic artifacts from the building. Additionally, postcards belonging to Foto Resna, Türkiye’s first Turkish photography studio, are also exhibited in the museum.

The museum displays cameras produced between 1904 and 2000, including those used in street and studio photography, Polaroid cameras, photo editing devices, cinema equipment, film cameras, lenses, projectors, flashes, filters, tripods, enlargers, films, film storage containers and boxes, photographic paper and envelopes. In addition, posters and invitations from exhibitions held by Turkish photographers both within and outside Türkiye are also part of the museum’s collection.

Since its opening, the Balıkesir National Photography Museum has been honored with awards by the Türkiye Photography Arts Federation, the Balıkesirians Union, and the Istanbul Photography and Cinema Amateurs Association (İFSAK).