The negative copy, combined with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's photograph that he gifted to journalist Ruşen Eşref Ünaydın 70 years ago, became the first non-fungible token (NFT) to be registered as a work of art by a state.
The NFT Atatürk photograph received a registration certificate from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founding father of the Turkish Republic, signed and presented his photograph to journalist Ruşen Eşref Ünaydın to be printed in the newspapers as he did the first interview with him after the Battle of Gallipoli.
Also, a poet, writer and journalist, Ünaydın, served as Afyonkarahisar deputy for the second, third and fourth terms in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, as the Secretary General of the Presidency and as an ambassador. Ünaydın also permitted Osman Atilla, a poet and writer like himself, to take the photo of the gifted photo.
Osman Atilla, who published the negative copy in some local newspapers in the 1950s and early 1960s, gave it to journalist İbrahim Küçükkurt before his death. Then Küçükkurt handed the negative photograph to journalist Onur Bayram in 2007. Bayram kept the negative version for 14 years in a custom-made box so that it would not be damaged by the effects of light, humidity and time.
He created the digital artwork by transferring the negative photo to the computer during the COVID-19 lockdown and brought it side by side with the positive version. Transforming the new photo into NFT, Bayram said: “NFT artworks have become popular during the pandemic period. In the simplest terms, NFT can be explained as digital title deeds of works of art. I converted this historical photograph into NFT with the name 'Photo1918.'” Bayram also added that he wanted to make such a project with the fear of deformation on the negative photo, with an aim to immortalize it.
Emphasizing that color photographic negatives can lose their color in 30 years, Bayram said that there is a risk that all negative photographic images may be erased over time.
He also prepared a website in Turkish, English and German to tell the history of the photograph.
“Hundreds of thousands of photos, videos and similar digital images are converted into NFT every day. However, the NFT Atatürk photograph differed from millions of other NFTs. For this reason, I applied for registration to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, General Directorate of Copyright last year and received the 'Registration Certificate for Fine Art Works.' Thus, the NFT of Atatürk photography became the first work of the world to be certified as a work of art,” he added.
