C. M. Kosemen

Born in Ankara, Turkey in 1984, Kosemen studied at the Sabancı University in Istanbul and at the Cornell University in New York. Kosemen also studied at the Goldsmiths College in London, from which he holds a Master's degree in Documentary Film and Media Studies. He has worked as an editor for the magazine Colors by Benetton and in several different advertising agencies.[3] From a young age, Kosemen was interested in paleontology, extinct animals and evolutionary history, envisioned by him as a way to explore "strange creatures and strange worlds".[4]

In 2010, Kosemen met Kerimcan Güleryüz, head of an art exhibition project called The Empire Project, which prompted him to further explore symbolism in art.[4]

Since 2010, Kosemen's artwork has been the subject of several exhibitions in Istanbul, such as the exhibition "Sanctuary" which was held at the art space in the quarter Karaköy called Space Debris from January 19 to February 17 of 2018.[3][4] His artwork ranges from scientifically accurate depictions of prehistoric life to surrealist paintings.[5]

In 2011, Kosemen discovered that he is descended from Dönmeh, Jews forced to convert to Islam in the 17th century.[6] He published a book about them, Osman Hasan and the Tombstone Photographs of the Dönmes, in 2014.

In 2012, Kosemen co-authored the book All Yesterdays with Australian paleoartist John Conway and British paleontologist Darren Naish. The book, which garnered wide attention and positive reviews, explores speculative ideas in paleoart, art reconstructing prehistoric animals. Conway and Kosemen began working on the book together after they realized that a vast majority of modern dinosaur artwork did not really portray dinosaurs as real animals, ignoring features such as various type of soft tissue (e.g. skin flaps, pouches, fat) that are unlikely to have survived through fossilization. Both All Yesterdays[7][8][9] and Conways's, Naish's and Kosemen's later book Cryptozoologicon were widely featured in the media.[10][11]

Kosemen's 2019 book The Disappearing City, explores and collects photographs of 20th century Turkish street signs and architecture in Istanbul. Describing the book, Kosemen has stated that it came about since Istanbul is rapidly replacing its 20th century buildings and that the city as such is "losing some valuable buildings of a type that are being preserved in, say, Tel Aviv".[12]

Kosemen is also known for his "Snaiad" speculative evolution project, which explores a fictional alien world called Snaiad, with a diverse ecosystem of creatures designed by Kosemen himself.[13][14][15] Kosemen hopes to eventually publish the project as a book.[16]

A documentary about C. M. Kosemen and his work, titled Tangent Realms: The Worlds of C. M. Kösemen and directed by indie filmmaker Kevin Schreck, was released in 2018. The film explores not only Kosemen's art, but also his personal life and questions he and other people face at some point in their lives.[17] The film received awards at several indie film festivals.[18]

• All Tomorrows: A Billion Year Chronicle of the Myriad Species and Mixed Fortunes of Man (2008) – a book which explores imagined future humans and their descendants.[19]
• All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals (2012), with John Conway and Darren Naish – a book exploring speculative renditions of prehistoric life.[7]
• Nişanyan House, a Photographic Essay (2013) – a photo book designed as a gift for residents at the Nişanyan Hotel in Şirince, Turkey.[20]
• All Your Yesterdays: Extraordinary Visions of Extinct Life by a New Generation of Palaeoartists (2013) – sequel to All Yesterdays, incorporating speculative paleoart by a larger amount of artists. Available as a free e-book on Kosemen's website.[20]
• Cryptozoologicon: The Biology, Evolution, and Mythology of Hidden Animals (2013), with John Conway and Darren Naish – a book taking a speculative biology approach to various cryptids.[20]
• Osman Hasan and the Tombstone Photographs of the Dönmes (2014) – a book on tombstone portraits of Dönmeh community in Turkey.[20]
• The Bodrum Jewish Cemetery (2018) – a book exploring the Jewish cemetery in Bodrum, Turkey, one of the few traces that remains of a Jewish community that once lived there.[20]
• The Disappearing City: Hand-Painted Apartment Signs and Architectural Details from 20th-Century Istanbul (2018) – a book published in two volumes with photographs of 20th century street signs and architecture in Istanbul.[12]
• A Karakaş Speaks: Interviews with a Member of Turkey’s Crypto-Judaic “Dönme” Sect (2018) – a book on a cryptic Dönmeh community in Turkey.[20]
• Memories and Stories of Bodrum's Jewish Community (2019) – a book exploring the Jewish community which once lived in Bodrum in Turkey.[20]
• Hatıratlarda Türkiye Yahudileri (2019), with Rıfat N. Bali – "Turkish Jews in Turkish Memoirs", an edited collection of historical personal memoirs by, and concerning, Jews in Turkey.[20]
• Memoirs of an Istanbul Psychiatrist (2020) – transcribed, translated and edited version of the memoirs of Turkish neuropsychiatrist Henri Griladze.[20]

Kosemen has also put together three collections of his personal sketches and artwork, Tangent Worlds: From the Sketchbooks of C. M. Kosemen (2016), Alternate Life: From the Online Sketchbooks of C. M. Kosemen (2019) and Decade: Surreal Artworks by C. M. Kosemen (2020), all three available for free on his website.[20]

• C. M. Kosemen's website
• C. M. Kosemen's youtube channel, featuring his own podcast
• Life on Snaiad. Website of Kosemen's "Snaiad" project
• Talk about Snaiad and designing alien lifeforms by Kosemen on YouTube
• Website for the film Tangent Realms