My travels introduced me to a young Kurdish girl living in Turkey named Tuba. We connected because of her newly discovered interest in photography. Immediately Tuba became a fresh twist to my work in that part of the world I had been seeking. From my first day in Southern Turkey Tuba openly showed me her world. She was excited to show me the city and surrounding area close to the village where she grew up. Tuba is twenty years old and a university student. She had arranged to take the week off to accompany me and learn about photography.
This year my travels introduced me to a young Kurdish girl living in Turkey named Tuba, which means “Tree in Paradise.†We connected because of her newly discovered interest in photography. I had been in Afghanistan and was travelling to Turkey to work on another project. I was unable to make the connections that I needed to continue that project, and on seeing my frustration, a mutual friend introduced me to Tuba. She was an inspiration. Immediately Tuba became a fresh twist to my work in that part of the world I had been seeking. “The Kurdish Perspective†from the eyes and mind of a young woman.
From my first day in Southern Turkey Tuba openly showed me her world. She was excited to show me the city and surrounding area close to the village where she grew up. Tuba is twenty years old and a university student. She had arranged to take the week off to accompany me and learn about photography. She was so curious about the art and such a precocious learner that I loaned her my backup camera for the week.
Tuba took to the camera like a pro, with only a small amount of instruction. She was engaging, clever and charming with everyone she wished to photograph. Tuba told people that she had an assignment from school and that I come from America to be her instructor, which worked like a charm. We roamed the streets, venturing into Mosques and local meeting places. She was sidetracked one day by wedding dresses in a store window. Not so unusual for a girl her age.
One morning was spent in an old cemetery where many of her ancestors were buried. After lunch that day we went bowling and watched a scary movie in a theatre located in a shopping mall. The theater seats were attached to a contraption that moved like a roller coaster. That evening her parents invited me to come to their home, which is in a small village where many close family members also live. The next morning, a beautiful spring day, we picked up her aunt and grandmother and drove into the countryside to another village where all of the residents are part of the extended family. We wandered extensively before having tea with bread fresh from the oven. Next we had an adventure driving off-road to visit Tuba’s great aunt. At that time, she was living with her husband in a tent to be near their grazing herd of sheep.
On our last day together Tuba’s family took me to visit Nemrut Mountain, about a four hour drive from their village. The most exciting facet of this adventure was that the mountain is at an elevation of seven thousand feet and Tuba had never seen snow. Her excitement and joy were intoxicating.