He was born in Iskenderun in 1954. He graduated from Kuleli Military High School in 1970 and from Istanbul University in 1975. He graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy. He specialized in Pharmacology and Toxicology at Gülhane Military Medical Academy in 1983. He completed his doctoral studies at Gülhane Military Medical Faculty, Department of Medical History and Deontology, in 1989. He became Associate Professor in 1997 and Professor in 2010

After retiring in 2013, he has been continuing his education as a faculty member in the Department of Medical History and Ethics at Lokman Hekim University Faculty of Medicine since 2018.

Ataç, who was interested in plastic arts and especially painting for a long time, bought his first camera in 1970. He opened more than 40 personal exhibitions with his photographs in various provinces of Turkey and abroad. He has made more than 250 personal photo shows. He participated in more than 300 group exhibitions and photography shows at home and abroad. His photographs appeared in various books, magazines, brochures, posters, calendars, stamps and postcards. He received more than 60 awards at home and abroad. He served as an organizer and selection committee member in many national and international photography competitions. He has published and edited more than 30 photography books and more than 20 scientific books.

He is a founding member of the Photography Art Foundation (FSK), Gülhane Photography Club (GÜFOK), Mogan Bird Photography Working Group and Golden Ratio Photography Art Association (ALFOD). He gave more than 100 photography trainings, organized courses and seminar programs, and trained students in many associations and institutions, as well as in various Ministries and Universities.

About photography; Summing up what, why, how to shoot, how to work and how to present, the importance of purpose, awareness and thought with the approach of "Photography is seeing and thinking", Ataç's photographs deal with people and life, ballet, nudes, nature, birds, butterflies and macro. Their experimental and questioning approaches to the issues and their new and different arrangements were remarkable.

His works; he was included in the books "Aesthetic Inquiry in Nudes" published in 2004, "Human, Environment, Future" published in 2005 and the 21st book of the "Turkish Photographers Library" series. In the 2000s, he focused especially on nature studies. He published his studies on Turkey's butterflies as a book "Our Butterflies" in 2010. His next project subject, birds, was published as the book "Our Birds" in 2020. In addition, the 5-volume e-book "BIRDS through the eyes of Adnan Ataç" and 14 calendars containing "Birds of Ankara" were published on "issuu.com" between 2011 and 2024.

In addition to these works, his photographs were featured in many books, brochures, calendars, postcards, exhibitions and shows promoting Turkey. Photo books about Kütahya, Kayseri, Amasya and Hacıbektaş were published. His views on photography were published in many books and magazines.

His latest works on the art of photography are "Minimalism in Nature", which he prepared in 2019, "Dynamism in Nature" with its futuristic perspective, which he prepared in 2020, and "Metaphor of Love in Virtual Lives - Love", which he prepared in 2020, as a postmodern work, in 2021. He prepared the exhibitions titled "Dialectical Contradiction of Existence" on existence, human, nude and environmental relations. Along with these studies, the conceptual projects "The Idea of Beauty", "A Person Alienated from Himself", "Reality in Dreams" and "Bodies Beyond the Spirit" were published as 3 books in 2013.

4 basic principles of his view of life; Ataç defines his scientific and photographic works as always seeking "respect" in human-nature relations, "truth" with a scientific approach, "good" with ethical principles, and "beauty" with an aesthetic view. He publishes his current works on "instagram" under the username "adnanatac.prof".