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Firat (Euphrates) Diaries 1976

In 1976, I traveled to Southeastern Anatolia for the first time. For me, it was more than a journey into a new geography; I was also encountering a way of life that I had never known closely before. Domed mud-brick houses, large extended families, everyday village life and the communities along the Euphrates River presented a world quite different from what I had seen in Western Anatolia.

In the villages, the way people lived and the architecture of their homes could hardly be separated from one another. The traditional domed mud-brick houses reflected not only the architecture of the region, but also a centuries-old relationship with the climate and the surrounding environment. Extended families shared the same living spaces, while much of daily life took place around the houses and in the open air. With my camera, I tried to enter this world quietly and photograph life as naturally as possible, without interfering with what I saw.

Some of the strongest images from this journey emerged along the Euphrates River. The river was not simply a landscape; it was an inseparable part of life in the region. The color photograph I took in the Euphrates, Photo 7 in this series, was selected for the First State Photography Exhibition in 1984. Seeing an image from that journey receive such recognition eight years later became a special memory for me.

Looking at these photographs half a century later, I understand more clearly how important that first journey to Southeastern Anatolia was for me. The houses, people and village life I encountered have changed considerably over time. Euphrates Diaries is therefore more than a record of a journey I made in 1976; for me, it is a visual memory of a way of life in Anatolia preserved through photographs.