Location: Esenler Bus Terminal – İstanbul

Original Format: 6×6 medium format BW Negative Film

Around the world, most people migrate to big metropolitan centers for economic reasons. The biggest migration to Istanbul comes from the Kurdish cities, form the southeast of Anatolia. For those people, who passed through a period of destruction and forced migration in massive groups over the last 30 years, Istanbul means something totally different from an economic opportunity.

This Project is based on the intention to photograph Kurdish people from any age group who come to Istanbul for various reasons and their very first encounter with the city, as they just get off from the buses. With a white backdrop, and under skylight, I wanted to bring the body to the front, and let it tell its own story.

I also intended this project as a record of the immigration history of Istanbul, thus it employs a visual anthropology perspective as well.

Location: “Ben u Sen” Quarter, Diyarbakir city

The city Diyarbakir suffered from the war in the region since last 30 years. “Ben u Sen”, a district of Diyarbakir, is inhabited mostly by people who are affected by the war. They were the ones who had nothing when they were forced to leave their villages. The ancient wall, dating back to 2000 BC., gave shelter to the people who lost everything.

The Project aims to enhance understanding by visually portraying the people living in “Ben u Sen”.  It, thus, aims to provide an inevitable encounter with the alienated and omitted ones.