This workshop is for
- Photographers with confident camera and exposure control
- Photographers who want to develop a fine-art nude series
- People who value consent, model rights and a respectful set
This workshop is not
- A beginner camera course
- A glamour, fetish or casual model meet-up
- A high-volume shooting day focused on model access
How the Workshop Works
Each workshop is a three-hour studio session for up to six photographers, built around one visual concept and one professional model collaborator. Before the session, participants receive a short online briefing on the concept and on consent. In the studio, Burak explains lighting, direction and composition decisions as they are made, and each participant tests them in short individual shooting rotations. After the workshop, an online critique covers selection and sequence. Retouching software is not taught.
Studio lighting and modifiers are provided. Dates, prices and image-use terms are published for each event.
The Nudes of Istanbul
A collective photography project that grew out of the Istanbul workshops. Curated and edited by Burak Bulut Yıldırım, it brings together fourteen photographers, five of them women, and three model-authors. Burak does not exhibit his own photographs in the exhibition or in the book’s selection.
The models are treated as authors in this project. Three of them wrote essays for the book about their own experience of nude modelling, and their texts are published under the names they chose.
“I did not want this project to treat the model as silent subject matter.” Burak Bulut Yıldırım
Berlin
The first presentation of the project: 28 photographs at Die Akt Galerie, Krossener Str. 34, Berlin.
Barcelona
Opening on Friday 20 November at 19:30. Book presentation on Saturday 21 November at 12:00. Carrer de Sicília 382, near Sagrada Família.
Film
Nudes of Istanbul: The Body and the Room, directed by Meryem Aydın, screened at Uxval Gochez Gallery during LOOP Barcelona 2026.
The book
English-language hardcover, Mijuk Papers, Berlin, 2026. 112 pages, 133 photographs. ISBN 978-3-00-087439-0.
The book opens with Burak’s curatorial foreword, A Body Held in the Room, and an essay on the history of nude photography in Turkey. The work is arranged in six sections: Surface, Matter, Opacity, Rooms, Duration and Self-Possession, followed by a selection for each of the fourteen photographers.
Copies are held by the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Istanbul Modern Library and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Essays by the models
- Zeynep Renda writes about ten years of modelling: trust, boundaries, contracts, and the difference between unsafe and professional working conditions.
- Su Yeşil writes about the body as lived experience: family, shame, gender norms, movement, and why nudity is not the same as sexuality.
- Marmelat, a pen name chosen by the author, writes about three years as a nude model in a fine arts faculty in Turkey.
Past Berlin Sessions
Elegance of Form: Sculpting with Light. Edge control, shadow and directed gesture on a minimal studio set. Model collaborator: Julia.
Editorial Home Stories. A sequence built in a real interior with window light and continuity between frames. Model collaborator: Ksenia.
Burak Bulut Yıldırım
Fine-art photographer, educator and curator, professionally active since 2005. He founded the workshop programme in Istanbul in 2012 and has taught it in Berlin, Venice and Chios.
burakbulut.org · burakbulut.info · Sony Alpha Universe · @burak.bulut.yildirim
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need nude photography experience, and what should I bring?
No nude photography experience is required, but you should have confident camera and exposure control. Many participants come from portrait, editorial, fashion or documentary work.
Bring your camera and a standard or short telephoto lens (35mm, 50mm or 85mm). Lighting and modifiers are provided in the studio.
How many photographers are in a group?
Six at most. Participants shoot in controlled rotations, so no one photographs over someone else’s shoulder.
How do consent and image rights work?
Models are briefed in advance on the concept, the group and the intended image use. Portfolio, social media, publication, exhibition and commercial rights are handled separately, and the release for each event defines what participants may do with their photographs. Models are credited when they wish to be named.
Where are the workshops, and in which language?
Berlin has been the main European base since 2018. The London programme is planned for late 2026. Berlin, London and other European sessions are in English; Istanbul sessions are in Turkish.
What is the booking and cancellation policy?
Each event page lists the price, deposit, final payment date, image-use terms and cancellation policy. A workshop runs with at least four paid participants. If it is cancelled for that reason, you can transfer your booking or receive a full refund.
Can my work be published or exhibited?
Strong alumni work may be considered for a publication or exhibition, but participation does not guarantee selection. The Nudes of Istanbul (Berlin, 2026) and LandsNude (Artcore Gallery, Thessaloniki, 2015) both came from the workshop community.
Early-Access List
Confirmed dates for Berlin, London and other European cities are sent to the list before they are announced publicly.
From the Blog
From Workshop to Gallery: The Nudes of Istanbul
How the Istanbul workshop community became a Berlin exhibition and a book.
Read article →Mastering Light in Nude Art Photography
Distance, angle, edge quality and contrast in shaping the human form.
Read article →The Art of Posing in Nude Photography
Directing the body, from classical to contemporary practice.
Read article →Instagram: @nudeartworkshops · @burak.bulut.yildirim · Contact: [email protected]