‘The Call of the Valley’ is about the small space of choice that the villagers of Qurdîsê had when forced to leave their land and the subtle resistance that lies in the process of return. Situated in the dry lands of South-Eastern Turkey – Kurdistan, in 1993 the Turkish soldiers came and gave the villagers two hours by gunpoint to pack their stuff and leave. Afterward, everything was burned. You could stay if you would take up arms against the guerilla and collaborate with the Turkish forces. In the valley of Qurdîsê, no one stayed. They call themselves ‘honorables’ – because leaving was the only right thing to do. Now those ‘honorables’ have slowly started to return. In daily life, they reclaim the land and their identity intertwined with it. Against the backdrop of a thousands of years old, vast landscape, their efforts to rebuild grow like little sprouts of hope in this conflict ridden territory. I have a photo documentary grant to travel to the region around April 2025 but I would like to use the 3000 dollar of the lucy foundation for experimentation and buy a stereotypic camera, films and develop, scan and print those. Start date March 2021 - end date yet unknown (probably summer 2025) 5 Goals: produce a new chapter in the story by travelling to Qurdise. produce 10 new stereotypic images. collect 3 life history interviews. acquire feedback on images of portrayed people. Pitch to international media outlets.
