Cagla Demirbas

Cagla Demirbas (b. 1997, Ankara) is an artist, curator and researcher who earned her BA from Instanbul Bilgi University in Media and Communication (2020) and Film and Television (2022), graduating as salutatorian and valedictorian, respectively. Inspired by pyschodynamic psychotherapy and the history of analog photography, her work acts as a 'backup memory', dealing with serendipity and parapraxes found in everyday life.

Her series "Media Omitted" (2022), consisting of cross-processed double exposures that explore the "what-if"s of a relationship, was awarded second place in the "Best Series" category at the 2023 American Photographic Artist (APA) Award and was nominated for Best Landscape at the 2022 Head On Photo Awards. This work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art, Mall Galleries, Der Greif, Pingyao International Photography Festival, Month of Photography Denver, Praxis Gallery, ZIRKA – Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Raum- und Kulturarbeit, and Mixer Arts. Her photography has been featured on platforms such as the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI), Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Photopia Cairo, TRT World, and Contemporary Istanbul.

Her first short screenplay, titled “Room Service,” was a finalist at the BAFTA-qualifying Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival and a quarter-finalist at the Kerry International Film Festival.

In 2024, “Media Omitted” was included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Avant-garde. Other works have been showcased on platforms such as the Association for Visual Arts, Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Design Festa Gallery, and Ka Space for Visual Culture & Artistic Thinking.