Orchun Mert (Orchun96)
Visual Artist & Founder of 96 Boiz Art Collective
Orchun Mert, known professionally as Orchun96, is a contemporary visual artist and the founder of the 96 Boiz Art Collective.
Some careers begin with connections, established institutions, or an industry already willing to open its doors. Orchun’s did not. He began independently in nightlife and underground music culture, photographing rappers and performers without the backing of an agency, magazine, label, or established creative team.
The turning point came when one of the photographs Orchun had published on his own social media profile was discovered and reposted by Offset on Instagram. It was not commissioned work delivered directly to the artist; the image had already been released independently under Orchun’s own name. Offset’s repost brought both the photograph and its creator in front of a global audience. Swae Lee later reposted another of Orchun’s independently published photographs.
The recognition quickly moved beyond social media. Orchun’s work and the international attention surrounding it were also covered by major Turkish media, including Hürriyet.
But photography became only the first chapter.
Rather than allowing one successful period to define the rest of his career, Orchun moved into contemporary visual art and began working across painting, illustration, and mixed media. His refusal to remain inside a single established category eventually led to the development of the 96 Contour Style, characterized by bold contour lines, abstract figures, and simplified forms.
The number 96, taken from his birth year, had followed him from the beginning. As his work expanded, it became the identity behind the 96 Boiz Art Collective, founded by Orchun and built around a new generation of visual work and collaboration.
The collective’s early collections went on to generate more than 10 million views on Pinterest, introducing 96 Boiz and its visual language to audiences around the world.
From underground nightlife photography to contemporary art, Orchun’s career has followed an unconventional route. Instead of entering through an established door, he repeatedly built the next stage from what he had already created—turning an independently published photograph into international recognition, and that recognition into an entirely new chapter as an artist.