ÖZKAN ÜNER
Türkiye · Editor
PASSION MEETS PROFESSION
“Every flight deserves to be remembered from a perspective few will ever experience.”
Aviation has shaped my life since childhood. Growing up beside a military airbase, I developed a fascination for aircraft long before photography became my profession. Today, I combine my passion for aviation with professional photography, publishing and education to document military aviation from perspectives that few people have the opportunity to experience.
As an Editor for CHECKSIX – The International Military Aviation Journal, I contribute international editorial experience while helping to bring our vision to Turkish-speaking readers.
The Story
I have been fascinated by aviation for as long as I can remember.
Some of my earliest childhood memories are of watching military aircraft from my home near an airbase in Diyarbakır. From my perspective, every arrival and departure felt as though I were sitting inside an air traffic control tower, watching aviation unfold just outside my window.
That fascination never disappeared.
Instead, it grew alongside another passion that would eventually shape my professional life: photography.
By the age of eighteen, photography had become far more than a hobby. It became the perfect way to combine creativity with my lifelong interest in aviation.
As my experience grew, I had the privilege of studying air-to-air photography under the guidance of the internationally respected aviation photographer Eric Coeckelberghs at the Air-to-Air Academy. Those experiences helped define my photographic approach and reinforced my belief that aviation photography should tell stories—not simply document aircraft.
Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to work with the Turkish Air Force, the Turkish Stars and SOLOTürk on a variety of professional projects while serving as Director of Photographers for major international aviation events, including Eurasia Airshow and Teknofest.
Sharing knowledge has always been just as important to me as creating photographs.
As a lecturer, I teach photography at several universities, while my own publishing activities through A2A Photography and A2A MAG allow me to continue promoting aviation photography through books, visual projects and editorial work. I also founded TURNA – the Turkish Network of Aviation Visual Creators to encourage collaboration and professional development within the aviation photography community.
Joining the CHECKSIX Editorial Crew represents another opportunity to contribute to an international publication that shares my belief in authenticity, professionalism and editorial excellence.
Through every assignment, every publication and every collaboration, my goal remains unchanged:
To present military aviation from perspectives that inspire curiosity, preserve history and celebrate the people who make aviation possible.
EDITORIAL FOCUS
Air-to-Air Photography · Military Aviation · Editorial Publishing · Aviation Education · International Airshows