Children capture life through analogue photography in Mardin

MARDİN

In a darkroom illuminated by red lamps, children in the southeastern province of Mardin are learning the art of analogue photography from start to finish, developing films and printing photographs with their own hands.

The project, known as Fotohane Darkroom, was launched in 2024 by photographers Amar Kılıç and Serbest Salih. Its name, meaning “house of photo,” was chosen by the children participating in
the initiative.

The two-month workshop brings together local and migrant children living near Türkiye’s borders with Syria and Iraq. Participants are responsible for every stage of the process, from loading film into cameras to developing negatives and producing final prints.

According to the organizers, the hands-on nature of analogue photography encourages patience, creativity and self-confidence. Unlike digital photography, children do not immediately see the images they capture, prompting them to think more carefully about each frame.

Many of the participants come from families displaced by the Syrian civil war. Among the instructors is Syrian photographer Serbest Salih, who fled the Kurdish town of Kobani in 2014 following attacks by the Islamic State group.

Since arriving in Türkiye, Salih has worked to promote social inclusion through photography, organizing workshops for vulnerable local and refugee children. He first launched a mobile analogue photography program in a secondhand caravan that traveled to villages along the border.

Children say their favorite part of the workshop is the darkroom, which they refer to as the “magic room,” where images gradually appear on blank sheets of paper.

The project is funded largely through donations and support events held abroad. This summer, photographs produced by the children are being exhibited in Italy, Belgium, Britain and Indonesia.

The organizers hope to expand the initiative by returning to a mobile model, allowing them to bring photography training to children in different regions of Türkiye.