Fathom

In Turkey, the escalating violence, oppression and policies enacted to disregard LGBTIQ + existence, and the hate crimes experienced by LGBTIQ+ individuals are increasing daily, at the same rate.

There is no regulation in the laws to punish discrimination and human rights violations against LGBTIQ + individuals. LGBTIQ + individuals are pushed to suicide and are made vulnerable to hate crimes due to many factors encouraged by the state; such as the inability to take a place in the work force, or pressures put on by their families.

Via staged documentary photographs, I took imaginary portraits of LGBTIQ + individuals who lost their lives due to human rights violations and hate crimes, reflected on surviving members of the LGBTIQ + community. With these story, I hope to create an unusual monument. This is because I believe that there is a strong flow between those who were killed and those who survived; those that now carry all this struggle and suffering. Each generation inherits the dreams of the previous generation and lives these dreams that perhaps those who are no longer among us were able to not realize.

© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
i

Ahmet Yıldız was murdered by his father on July 15th, 2008. This hate killing is commemorated as the first publicized gay honor killing in Turkey. Yağız reflects their non-binary identity to their art and takes gender performances as a base for their projects. They believe there are pre-taught taboos about nudity and voyeurism and hope to break through them through photography.

© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
i

In Izmir’s Kinik district, 17 year-old trans man Okyanus Efe Özyavuz could no longer take the pressure of his father’s words; “Kill yourself so you don’t make us deal with it,” and hung himself on the balcony rails. Eşref is a 42 year-old artist living in İstanbul. He is hiding his gay identity from his family.

© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
i

Turkey’s Pride Parades, which had been uninterruptedly organized since 2003, has been put on hold since 2014 due to rising political pressures. LGBTI+ individuals have to hide their orientation, their identity and existence to be able to take part in public space, workspaces and their family life; or even just to survive.

© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
i

Gave themselves the name Lilith as their Drag Queen persona. They say: “Lilith is the first woman that stood up to Adam. That’s me.” Lilith received a bachelor's degree in English teaching from Boğaziçi University, one of Turkey’s most prestigious colleges. Since they don’t hide their Drag Queen persona and participate in queer activism they can’t find job in many fields.

© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
i

Emre is one of the academics that were put under trial for signing the 2016 treaty, titled “We will not be a party to this crime,” with the allegation that the signers were “distributing propaganda for a terrorist organization.” Prior to his departure from academia he was put under pressure and eventually exiled for being Kurdish and a queer activist. At the end of this process he had to quit academia.

© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
i

In the 2016 case of Syrian gay refugee Muhammed Wisam Sankari, found dead in Istanbul, the murder suspect said; “ I have AIDS, that’s why I killed him.” Yağız is a non-binary painter.

© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
i

In Ankara a trans woman was battered and stabbed by her boyfriend and then thrown off of the second floor. Kristina is a queer musician and a Turkish emigre of Russian descent. When we shed our assigned gender a lot of us look like creatures coming out of a cave. I wanted to expose through photography an identity repressed due to societal taboos.

© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
i

It was discovered that the body found burned and dead by a roadside in Zekeriyaköy was the body of transgender woman and LGBTI+ activist Hande Kader. Berfin works on traumas passed on through generations and a history of women effaced. She says that she sometimes contacts her deceased grandmother. She is interested in shamanic rituals through a queer perspective.

© Cansu Yıldıran - HIV visibility isn’t recognized in Turkey. Individuals living with HIV are shunned from public life.
i

HIV visibility isn’t recognized in Turkey. Individuals living with HIV are shunned from public life.

© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project
i

24 year-old Sinan Akyüz living in Van couldn’t bear the violence brought upon him by his family and the local society, shared a post saying: “Happy days don’t have a future; I must now leave” and afterwards committed suicide. Leman is a queer activist and a director. She claims that through these photographs hidden parts inside her are both enveloped in a fog and at the same time are illuminated.

© Cansu Yıldıran - Image from the Fathom photography project

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Stay in the loop


We will send you weekly news on contemporary photography. You can change your mind at any time. We will treat your data with respect. For more information please visit our privacy policy. By ticking here, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with them. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.