C. M. Kosemen

Cevdet Mehmet "Memo" Kösemen (born 1984), known internationally as C. M. Kosemen and also known by his pen name Nemo Ramjet, is a Turkish researcher, artist, photographer and author. He is known for his artwork, depicting living and extinct animals as well as surrealist scenes, and for his speculative evolution project "Snaiad", which explores a fictional alien planet and its diverse biosphere.
Together with Australian paleoartist John Conway and British paleontologist Darren Naish, Kosemen co-authored "All Yesterdays", a 2012 book exploring speculative ideas in paleoart, and "Cryptozoologicon", a book applying speculative evolution ideas to cryptids, both of which were widely covered in international media.
Biography and career.
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. 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".
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.
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. His artwork ranges from scientifically accurate depictions of prehistoric life to surrealist paintings.
In 2011, Kosemen discovered that he is descended from Dönmeh, Jews forced to convert to Islam in the 17th century. 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" and Conways's, Naish's and Kosemen's later book "Cryptozoologicon" were widely featured in the media.
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".
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. Kosemen hopes to eventually publish the project as a book.
"Tangent Realms".
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. The film received awards at several indie film festivals.
Bibliography.
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.