Arda Funda was born in İzmir, Turkey in 1986 and works as a photographer, videographer, director of photography, and video artist.

He studied Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul but had been engaged in filming, photography, and various creative mediums since the age of 14, eventually leading him to pursue a career as an artist.

Starting in 2008, Arda worked in Istanbul both commercially and artistically as a photographer. During this time, he collaborated with various magazines, shooting covers for Stuff Magazine, Turkcell Magazine, and Beşiktaş Magazine. He also worked as a fashion photographer for renowned brands such as Mavi Jeans, Markafoni, and Nike. In addition to his commercial work, he focused on artistic projects, including architectural and street photography across Istanbul and Europe, with a particular emphasis on Portugal. His personal work was primarily captured on 35mm film.

Arda also contributed to notable projects like TAK – Local Designers Meet Local Producers, a collaboration with the Kadıköy Municipality. This project involved photographing locally crafted furniture designed by various artists and produced by artisans from Istanbul’s largest municipality. Alongside these endeavors, he co-created Long Way From Home, a music video project featuring live performances by internationally acclaimed musicians visiting Istanbul, such as Nouvelle Vague, Wax Poetic, Hooverphonic, Dub FX, Oi Va Voi, Ólafur Arnalds, Midlake, and İlhan Erşahin.
Since 2018, Arda has been based in Berlin. In his early years in the city, he collaborated with artists such as Carolin Wiedenbröker, Jan Preißler, Paula Thielecke, Sören Hornung, and Stefen Hornbach, which led him to explore the fields of theater, dance, video, and performance art. He has since worked with prominent theaters including Theater Oberhausen, Theater Chemnitz, Studio Naxos Frankfurt, Kosmos Theater Vienna, TD Berlin, and TUD Berlin, as well as theater groups like Eleganz aus Reflex, Gruppe Fux, Kollektiv Eins, Kaufmann/Witt, and äöü Theater- und Performancekollektiv.

As a director of photography, Arda has worked on theatrical film projects such as Republic of Lucrece (50 min, 2021) with Kollektiv Eins in collaboration with Theater Chemnitz and Kosmos Theater, RIGBY (55 min, 2022), a documentary by Kaufmann/Witt in collaboration with Theater Oberhausen, and Rosalinde (20 min, 2023) from Künstlerische Intelligenz, performed at Alte Münze Berlin.

In addition, Arda has created various video installations for stage productions, including Wir Liebten Nicht Alle (2022) by Eleganz aus Reflex at TD Berlin, and Mir Gehts Ja Noch Gold (2023), also by Eleganz aus Reflex at TD Berlin. He has also performed and directed live camera work in theater pieces such as SEX SMELLS (2021) by Kollektiv Eins at TD Berlin.

Since 2019, Arda has been creating music videos for artists like Ah! Kosmos, Dino Paris and der Chor der Finsternis, Twin Tooth, Babelfis, and Una Ray.

As a photographer, Arda continues to capture behind-the-scenes and on-stage moments from performing arts, while also developing his ongoing Berlin at Night series. In addition to his artistic work, he has photographed numerous directors and artists including Naomi Klein, Avi Lewis, Daniel Dencik, Jan Preißler, Lucile Hadžihalilović, Luk Yee-Sum, Başak Günak, Daniel Alfredson, and Daniel Zillmann.

Arda Funda currently lives in Berlin with his partner.