Eren Aytug

Pink Loerie Gay Festival, South Africa, 2008

Eren Aytuğ (b. 1979, Turkey) is a freelance photographer currently doing his Master’s degree in Marmara University, Communication Faculty, Department of Journalism. He specializes in editorial photography; both reportage and portrait work. He worked as a full time photojournalist for many magazines and newspapers between 1998 and 2007. In 2002, he participated in World Press Photo’s seminar program. In 2006 he photographed postwar daily life in Kabul, Afghanistan. During the past two years he has been working for Turkish and foreign publications, and  also working on independent photography projects. In 2008, he photographed makeshift refugee camps in the South African city of Cape Town.

About the Photograph:

“The Pink Loerie Mardi Gras  started seven years ago and has since had  huge support from the gay and lesbian community. It is the largest gay fest of South Africa and takes place in May every year. In 2008, the town’s Main Street was covered with brightly dressed men sporting placards reading “I am what I am,” “Live and let love” and “I’m the pink sheep in the family”. Curious residents and tourists could be seen lining the pavements to watch the annual gay parade as hundreds of men marched by in outlandish evening wear, sequinned tops and feathered head dresses.”