Assoc. Prof. Tolga Hepdinçler is an academic and filmmaker specializing in photography, cinema, and visual culture. He completed his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral studies at Ankara University, with his PhD focusing on "Photography and Orientalism: Photographic Representation of the Ottoman in the 19th Century," finalized in 2006.
In 1998, his short documentary Müzikal Vaziyetler won second place at the Ankara Film Festival’s National Documentary Competition and was showcased at several international festivals. This early success highlighted his talent in documentary filmmaking.
From 1998 to 2009, Hepdinçler served as a research assistant at Ankara University's Faculty of Communication. Since 2010, he has been a faculty member at Bahçeşehir University's Faculty of Communication, currently holding the position of Vice Dean. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses on photography, cinema, and visual culture, covering fundamental, theoretical, and applied subjects.
Hepdinçler’s research interests encompass photography, cinema studies, visual culture, art theory, and memory studies. His extensive national and international publications reflect his expertise, with notable contributions such as co-editing the book Creative Industries in Turkey (2020), which examines Turkey's evolving creative sectors. His scholarly articles include Ambiguous Storytelling in Three Texts: Unsettling the Perception of Reality and The Family Photographs of Istanbul Memories and the City: A Constellation of the Past and the Future, both of which underscore his focus on visual culture and narrative analysis.
In addition to his academic responsibilities, Hepdinçler has provided training and consultancy to various institutions, further contributing to the discourse on visual culture and media studies both in Turkey and internationally.