Open Category: Photojournalism / Story (AMATEUR) - HONORABLE MENTION
Future Can Wait
Photo © didem toprak
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Photographic Series Produced Over Master Programme /Duration Of The Project: Between January-June 2015
In my country, Turkey, for many years policy has dictated the rejection of small farming communities and the promotion of a more sustained focus on other industries. Since the foundation of the Republic here, many of the policies of the state have had traumatic results. Plans to encourage the development of a functioning rural society have failed over the years, while cities and towns have become places of economical, social, and cultural dissonance. After numerous political and social watersheds over the course of the past century, the 1990s finally culminated in the collapse of farming communities in rural Anatolia. Our family and their town underwent this same transformative process which was taking place across Turkey.
This photographic series tell the personal story of my family as well other families who took the same path, and is based in the province of Sivas in central Anatolia. The area claims to have over 1,200 different villages, and a total population of around 640,000 people...Our family’s town, Gürün, is located on an important historical trade route between the east and west of Anatolia. With a population of around 11,200 each of its 62 villages form part of a larger area and present a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. I tried to find protagonists of the town and endeavored to discover a transparent way of demonstrating and viewing contrasts between modern and rural life and a fluid future through their portraits. I took photos of carpenters, stovemakers, beekeepers, and poets striving to protect their own inner worlds and identities while trying to make what they can of their limited opportunities. My intention was to create portraits of the town’s inhabitants along with their environments.
Besides working in the graphic design field, I have focused on photography, and my future objective is to move into research, design, and photography about topics ranging from democratization, identity, civil rights to cultural heritage and memory.
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Photographic Series Produced Over Master Programme /Duration Of The Project: Between January-June 2015
In my country, Turkey, for many years policy has dictated the rejection of small farming communities and the promotion of a more sustained focus on other industries. Since the foundation of the Republic here, many of the policies of the state have had traumatic results. Plans to encourage the development of a functioning rural society have failed over the years, while cities and towns have become places of economical, social, and cultural dissonance. After numerous political and social watersheds over the course of the past century, the 1990s finally culminated in the collapse of farming communities in rural Anatolia. Our family and their town underwent this same transformative process which was taking place across Turkey.
This photographic series tell the personal story of my family as well other families who took the same path, and is based in the province of Sivas in central Anatolia. The area claims to have over 1,200 different villages, and a total population of around 640,000 people...Our family’s town, Gürün, is located on an important historical trade route between the east and west of Anatolia. With a population of around 11,200 each of its 62 villages form part of a larger area and present a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. I tried to find protagonists of the town and endeavored to discover a transparent way of demonstrating and viewing contrasts between modern and rural life and a fluid future through their portraits. I took photos of carpenters, stovemakers, beekeepers, and poets striving to protect their own inner worlds and identities while trying to make what they can of their limited opportunities. My intention was to create portraits of the town’s inhabitants along with their environments.
About author:
I am a designer and photographer with experience in publishing, advertising, and branding companies in Turkey, working in corporate, print, magazine, and web design. I studied advertising at university and completed a master’s in visual communication design.Besides working in the graphic design field, I have focused on photography, and my future objective is to move into research, design, and photography about topics ranging from democratization, identity, civil rights to cultural heritage and memory.
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