Ali Beşikçi: Jury of FotoSlovo Award 2026
Ali Beşikçi: Jury of FotoSlovo Award 2026
Founder of ZONE, Publisher
Ali Beşikçi is a photographer, Founder of ZONE- platform producing monographs, artists books and collective issues. Curator of exhibitions and workshops. Jury member of FotoSlovo AWARD.
"I’m interested in works that are true to the artist, images that don’t try to make themselves pretty, images that come from somewhere not easily identifiable. I really don’t know what makes ZONE different from others… I just dig deep into my own research".
— Your collective books grow through Open calls without predetermined themes. What are the principles that guide you when you sequence images that have no fixed subject?
— How I treat the open calls is very similar to how I work with my own images. I start without a theme or a prefixed idea and observe the images until I figure out the character of the next book. This gives me the liberty to try to understand what the images are asking for instead of pushing them to fit an already decided narrative.
— You edit and publish both collective books and monographic projects. What’s your personal process when selecting images for a personal artist book versus when you’re editing hundreds of outside contributions for a collective book?
— For the monographs, I usually contact an artist I’ve been following for a while. Since ZONE is a one-person project, I can only make a few each year, so I really reach out to the artists I like the most. Up until now, I’ve had the privilege of working with artists who trusted me immensely and left me with a large part of their archives. I dive into the archives and try to understand where the reasons for creation come from for the artist, the connections between different bodies of work, the outtakes, and so on. At some point, when I have a coherent whole in my hands, I share it with the artist, and if the work is loyal to the artist itself, we continue in a more collaborative manner to edit it together until everything is settled.
— Is there a distinct “ZONE” aesthetic or is the magazine’s identity built more around a feeling or a method of engagement with images? How would you define that? What makes Zone different from other magazines?
— Even though I like to think I don’t have a fixed aesthetic choice, I probably lean towards certain things. But besides what an image appears to be, my filters are more approach and idea based. There’s a ZONE manifesto I wrote at the beginning of the project that still stands today. Basically, I’m interested in works that are true to the artist, images that don’t try to make themselves pretty, images that come from somewhere not easily identifiable. I really don’t know what makes ZONE different from others, as for years now I haven’t paid much attention to other platforms. I just dig deep into my own research.
— Photographers often balance digital visibility with printed format. How important is the material object: the book, the print, exhibitions to you, and how does that influence what you choose to publish?
— Online publications are the most immediate way to spread works I value (a plus is that I can present images with music), but I’m much more interested in books. It’s a space where you can spend time without being constantly overwhelmed by noise. It’s the opposite of the immediacy we’ve become so used to lately. It has its own rhythm, its own choreography. Images don’t matter singularly; the whole organism takes over. An image is one thing on its own, and another thing on the 124th page of a coherent whole.
— Your mentorship program offers guidance on concept, editing, and sequencing. In your view, what is the #1 misconception photographers have about editing their work for publication? What else photographers get at your mentorship program?
— Editing is the most personal part of the process. It’s where a group of images loses its individual meaning and serves as parts of a bigger creature. I think the biggest error we make is that we start with more of a gut feeling and afterwards try to explain things for the spectator. We slowly strip away everything that made the work itself. I try to assist people in making something that others can relate to while keeping the character of the work. In these monthly meetings, up until now I’ve worked with many different people with different needs. With some, we talked more about music and cinema. With others, we worked on editing. I don’t have a fixed mentoring system. It’s practically whatever people need from me.
— Finally, looking toward the future of ZONE and collective book publishing, what role do you think independent platforms like yours play in shaping photographic culture? How do you think about expanding ZONE’s presence in physical spaces (festivals, galleries, exhibitions) and what’s your ideal model for curation and what are Zone next goals?
— Independent platforms keep things real. If we lose them, all that will remain are the main big ones with their sellable, showy aesthetics, jumping from one trendy subject to another. Sure, immigrants, identity, and similar subjects are important. I’m an immigrant myself. But I don’t trust most platforms in their intentions. They grow bigger off our backs and don’t really care. We have to take care of each other.
In the beginning, when I was 20, my objective was to change the way we observe and think about the medium, to shape its future, and so on. But I realized these weren’t my goals to begin with, just stuff I’ve been hearing over and over. I just want to continue making books with amazing people and spreading great work that I believe in.
In the beginning, when I was 20, my objective was to change the way we observe and think about the medium, to shape its future, and so on. But I realized these weren’t my goals to begin with, just stuff I’ve been hearing over and over. I just want to continue making books with amazing people and spreading great work that I believe in.