Fotohane Darkroom is a non-profit initiative based in southeastern Turkey, in the historic city of Mardin near the Syrian, Iraqi, and Turkish borders.
Mardin is a culturally rich city and an informal refuge for many displaced families, particularly from Syria. Children here—both local and refugee—face significant challenges related to poverty, trauma, and displacement.
“Our project empowers children through the art of analogue photography, using it as a creative and therapeutic tool. Fotohane Darkroom workshops engage children from Syrian, Iraqi, and Turkish Kurdish communities. These sessions provide not only technical education and a creative outlet, but also a healing experience. The children are deeply involved in all steps—from shooting to developing and curating their own images.
We come from different paths, but photography brought us together. I’ve spent the past years working with children through photography — especially those affected by displacement, conflict, or systemic neglect. For me, analog photography is a way to reconnect children with time, memory, and imagination. A camera can transform a child’s perspective — it puts them in charge of what they see and how they show it”
— Serbest Salih
“My background is also in photography, and I’ve worked for years on creative and cultural projects with young people. When we met, it was clear we shared a belief: that children and youth deserve safe, expressive, and meaningful spaces to create. So we decided to join forces.
In 2024, Serbest and I we founded Fotohane Darkroom in Mardin, southeastern Turkey — a region near the Syrian border where many children grow up in complex and often fragile conditions. Fotohane is a free analog photography workshop where we introduce children and youth to the full process: from learning how to use film cameras, to developing in the darkroom, to printing and editing their own images. It’s not just a course — it’s a shared space of learning and listening.
So far, we’ve worked with over 100 children from Syrian, Iraqi, and Turkish-Kurdish backgrounds. We prioritize their involvement at every step. This is their space, their stories. We are there to support, guide, and protect that process — but the creativity and voice come from them. The way they see their world — rooftops, shoes, friends, cats, broken swings, grandparents — is poetic and true in ways we couldn’t script even if we tried.
We strongly believe that photography is a universal language. It transcends borders, cultures, and languages — especially when it’s practiced slowly, analog, and in community. It becomes a bridge between children and their memories, between them and each other, and between us and the world watching.”
— Amar Kılıç
Fotohane Darkroom works with a growing team of passionate and talented people, including:
- Aylin Sancı – Curator
- Büşra Akgeyik – Visual Arts Trainer
- Izabel Della Siepe – Curator
- Natalia Theodoulidis – Photography Trainer
- Kaan Olcay – Photography Trainerİpek Akgeyik – Photography Assistant
More information
