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About Me
I'm a British freelance photojournalist, based in Istanbul, Turkey. My personal work often focuses on the intersection of identity, migration, social and political actions, and the ramifications of those for individuals. My work often tries to stretch the narrow definition of photojournalism, using conceptual approaches to visualise and convey issues to the viewer.
A vast chunk of my work has focused on issues connected with the theme and meaning of 'home' - the loss of home, the search for home, and the forming of a new home.
Regularly covering feature stories and portrait assignments in Turkey, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Europe, for a range of international newspapers, magazines, and online news media.
I'm a National Geographic Explorer, having receiving support for two projects from the Nat Geo Society since 2018.
My first long-term project Kütmaan (started in 2010) tells the stories of LGBTI asylum seekers, refugees, and IDPs in and from the Middle East, forced to flee their countries and lives for reasons connected with their sexuality and/or gender identity. This work led to my latest ongoing body of personal work called Gayropa - a visual documentation on queer migration to Europe.
Based in Istanbul, Turkey since early 2012, but traveling often. Began my career freelancing across South & Central Asia 2005-2010.
PRINT SALE - (e-books listed at the bottom of this page)
https://prints.format.com/shop/u/bradleysecker/professional-prints
Turkish and British national press cards. International press accreditation via IFJ. Member of the National Union of Journalists UK, London Branch.
Holder of a full (& clean!) car and motorbike driving licence.
Founder of Gayropa - a visual documentation on queer migration to Europe.
Hostile Environment - HEFAT and R.I.S.C. certified & trained.
Experienced as an on-set photographer and videographer for TV and film production. (Multiple Bollywood feature films, Al Jazeera documentaries and independent productions).
Available for editorial and commercial assignments in Turkey & internationally.
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Iraq's unwanted (part of my ongoing work Kütmaan) inspired a theatre production called Elegy by Transport Theatre, written by Douglas Rintoul and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and in London, Australia, and Spain. My Syrian Nakba series inspired a campaign by Caritas Deutschland, helping to raise awareness and funding to support refugees.
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Editorial clients:
Der Spiegel // The Guardian // The Times and The Sunday Times // POLITICO Europe // The New York Times // The Washington Post // National Geographic Magazine // The Economist // WIRED // BBC // Stern // Buzzfeed News // The Observer // Monocle Magazine // De Volkskrant // CNN // Libération // Deutsche Welle // Dagens Nyheter // Le Monde // NewsCorp Australia // them.us // & others.
Written features: The New York Times, The Independent: New Review magazine, POLITICO Europe, The Everyday Projects, TimeOut Istanbul LGBT section writer. Contributed live radio coverage and reports to BBC, PRI and others.
NGO / IGO / Corporate clients:
UNICEF, Disaster Emergencies Committee (UK), OSCE, UNHCR, WarChildUK, The Peninsula Hotels, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Amnesty International, IGLHRC, Coca Cola, Brandseers, MayDay Rescue/White Helmets, Teneo Blue Rubicon, AllOUT, Barcroft Media, Primark, International Press Institute.
////////// Corporate portfolio available upon request. //////////
Public talks and collaborations about my work:
Getty Images Reportage - Emerging Talent 2015/16
British Journal of Photography talk on a decade covering LGBTI asylum.
Salzburg Global LGBT Forum talk about work - https://youtu.be/GTSmfrvCVQ0
The New York Times - portfolio review attendee - 2019
National Geographic Society - London Explorers Festival April 2023 - speaker
Please contact me directly for individual print sales, requests for image usage, story leads, or collaborative opportunities.
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Exhibitions
2023 - Atatürk icons - Tribu cafe, Istanbul, Türkiye August 2023
2023 - Kütmaan & GAYROPA - Arcus Pride Art, byPride Photo Award - Amsterdam 2023
2022 - SEXugees - New Queer Photography - f3 – freiraum für fotografie - Berlin, Germany. June-August 2022
2022 - Gayropa (Wael) - Preus Museum, Oslo, Norway. August 2022
2022 - Pride Photo Award exhibition - Amsterdam, Netherlands - June-October 2022
2020 - New Queer Photography (Book) - SEXugees series included in this beautiful book
2018 - Kütmaan/Mr Gay Syria - GET ME - Rotterdam - Feb 2018
2017 - Kütmaan - Amsterdam Queer Migrant Film Festival - December 2017
2017 - Selected works from multiple series - Split, Croatia 1-10th June. Split Pride.
2017 - Liverpool, UK. Psychology Fringe Festival. January 19-21. Exhibition screening and photographer talk.
2016 - Kütmaan - Cezayir, solo exhibition. Istanbul, Turkey. October 2016
2016 - Kütmaan - Midsumma festival, Melbourne, Australia January-February 2016
2015 - Syrian Nakba - FotoIstanbul - October/November 2015, Istanbul, Turkey
2013 - Kütmaan - Solo exhibition, Curious Duke Gallery, London, UK
2012 - Kütmaan - NOUR festival - Leighton House, London, UK. Opened by Peter Tatchell.
2011 - Iraq's unwanted (part of Kütmaan) - First Out Café, London, UK
Presenting my Gayropa project at the National Geographic Society's London Explorer's Festival - April 2023.
Grants
European Journalism Fund - Grantee for a cross border project on water management June-September 2023
Pulitzer Center grantee - Climate change & labour markets reporting - Greenland - August-October 2022
National Geographic Society - COVID-19 photographic project grantee - October 2020 - December 2020
National Geographic Explorer - October 2019 - May 2020
Pulitzer Center grantee - reporting across Europe - 'Gayropa' project - May-September 2019.
International Reporting Project Fellow December 2017 - reporting from Japan on declining population rates
Arts Council England - Grant for the arts - 2012
Awards
Sexugees series wins two photography awards as part of POLITICO Europe
New York Times Portfolio Review 2019 - selected participant
Salzburg Global LGBT Forum Fellow 2017
Second place - Excellence in photojournalism category - NLGJA awards 2016
Getty Images Reportage - Emerging Talent 2015-2016
First Prize - Pride Photo Award, Amsterdam 2011
Selected written features
https://www.politico.eu/article/in-pictures-a-border-crossing-to-safety/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/travel/turkey-camel-wrestling.html
https://wonderfulmachine.com/article/bradley-secker-new-york-times-afghan-national-soccer/
https://medium.com/re-picture/you-have-to-be-a-good-shapeshifter-208bfd9af93e
https://www.politico.eu/article/turkish-controlled-town-northern-syria-returning-to-normality/
Cameo appearances...
Non speaking extra in Indian (Hindi) films: 'Queen', 'Shandaar', 'Mausam', 'Holiday' and Egyptian (Arabic) film 'Baby Doll Nights'.
Podcast - Istanboomboom - my camel story - https://soundcloud.com/istanboomboom/e7-the-b-secker-camel-story-w-photog-bradley-secker-drunken-audience-members-a-musical-guest
Teaching
Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Canada. 2016/17/18 - Remotely contributing lectures to journalism students on Networking for work/Building Community in the journalism industry.
Mentoring Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting - 2020-21-22-23 with student grantee journalists and photographers
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BOOKS
My collection of work on LGBT+ asylum and migration from 2010 to 2017 available as an e-book via Amazon's Kindle store.
These photographs document some of the thousands of gay men that have been forcibly displaced because of their sexuality. Being a refugee and being gay means living a dual struggle.
From the humid summer nights of Damascus, Syria in 2010, to the waves of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey in 2017, the shared optimism to find somewhere welcoming connects these gay men from Iran, Iraq and Syria. The fact that they all identify as gay brings them together, with the same force in which their lives were torn apart because of that characteristic.
A book form project of my series Syrian Nakba, with some other images related to forced migration and refugees en route to finding a new life abroad, available as an e-book via Amazon's Kindle store
Syrian Nakba - the Keys of home.
Front-door keys to the homes of some of the estimated 10 million Syrians forced to leave everything, displaced internally and internationally due to ongoing violence, political instability, fear, and lack of amenities.
Images of hope, remembrance and recognition.