Arif Aşçı was born in 1958 in Adana, Turkey. He graduated in 1982 from Mimar Sinan University's Faculty of Fine Arts in Istanbul, where he later served as an engraving instructor for two years. In 1986, Arif Aşçı resigned to become a full-time photographer and made a three-year journey through Asia. Based on this journey, he prepared the television documentary series Turquoise. From 1996 to 1997, Arif Aşçı organized the Silk Road Expedition, an 18-month journey in a camel caravan from China to Turkey, later described in the book The Last Caravan on the Silk Road. Until 2007, he was represented by the photo agency TCS (The Cover Story), with photographs published worldwide in magazines such as Geo, Grands Reportages, Holland Herald, and Terra. Arif Aşçı's photographs have also been exhibited in various venues, including the Istanbul Modern Museum, the A. Schusev Museum in Moscow, the Port de Halle Museum in Brussels, Gallery Now in Seoul, and Maison de Metallos in Paris. He staged his recent solo show Istanbul-Panorama at Cezayir Salon (Istanbul 2010). Arif Aşçı currently lives in Istanbul, where he works mainly on long-term photo-book projects.