Ahmet Ertuğ’s ‘Beyond the Vanishing Point’ to open in Venice

VENICE

Internationally acclaimed artist Ahmet Ertuğ’s photography exhibition “Beyond the Vanishing Point” will open in Venice on Feb. 21 in collaboration with Trendyol Art.

On view through April 6 at La Stanze della Fotografia, the exhibition features the monumental dome of Hagia Sophia in all its splendor. Establishing a historical architectural lineage between East and West through 29 large-format photographs extending from Hagia Sophia to the Pantheon, the show opens onto spaces that are often restricted, concealed or rarely accessible.

Documenting Europe’s and the Mediterranean’s architectural heritage for more than 50 years, the selection extends Trendyol Art’s commitment to arts and culture onto an international stage.

Curated by Denis Curti, the exhibition brings together 29 architectural masterpieces revealed in their full grandeur. The works were created through a slow and deliberate process using an 8×10-inch large-format bellows camera and film.

Architect and photographer Ertuğ, who has presented Türkiye’s cultural heritage and architecture to the world for over five decades, said his work has focused on photographing the architectural and cultural heritage of Europe, the Mediterranean and beyond.

Trained as an architect, he approaches photography not merely as documentation but as interpretation, seeking to reveal architecture through the perspective of its original creators. His large-scale prints reflect not only the physical magnitude of monumental structures but also the ideas they embody — faith, knowledge, power and the human pursuit of beauty and order.

The Venice exhibition presents a selection centered on Italy’s architectural legacy and its dialogue with the wider Mediterranean world. Twenty-eight of the photographs portray Italy’s cathedrals, palazzi, theaters, libraries and museums. Complementing them is a single image from Istanbul: The sixth-century dome of Hagia Sophia.

Ertuğ underlined the historical resonance between Istanbul and Venice, two pivotal cities along the Silk Road. He noted that Roman architecture shaped Byzantine and Ottoman builders, while the innovations of the Italian Renaissance inspired Mimar Sinan, the chief architect of the Ottoman Empire.

Hagia Sophia’s dome in focus

One of the most striking works in the exhibition is the photograph of Hagia Sophia’s central dome, suspended 55 meters above the ground since the sixth century. Captured together with its surrounding semi-domes, the image highlights an architectural continuum spanning centuries between Istanbul and Venice.

Overall, the exhibition explores how architecture embodies both continuity and transformation across cultures, periods and geographies, affirming the universal human desire to create spaces of meaning and transcendence.