Traditional Pottery — Menemen
The hands of a pottery master shape clay in a Menemen workshop. A craft sustained through years of practice, simple tools and the rhythm of the wheel.
Traditional Crafts of Türkiye — A Photographic Journey Through Living Traditions
Across Türkiye, traditional crafts continue to be practiced in modest workshops, family homes and small communities. This photographic collection brings together fifteen studies of artisans at work, following the gestures, tools and materials through which skills are sustained. From pottery, carpet and kilim weaving to glass bead making, walking sticks, printed fabrics, saddlery, felt making, basketry, silver filigree, tinsmithing, broom making, rope making and reed screen making, each series offers a close look at the people behind these traditions.
Traditional Carpet Weaving
At the loom, threads slowly become a patterned carpet. The photographs follow the patience, precision and inherited knowledge of traditional carpet weaving.
Traditional Kilim Weaving — Eşme, 2002
In a family workshop in Eşme, a woman weaves a kilim while her husband closely follows the work. A documentary series photographed in 2002.
Traditional Felt Making — Balıkesir, 2013
In a Balıkesir workshop, wool is carded, laid out and rolled before a machine compacts it into felt through repeated blows. Photographed in 2013.
Traditional Walking Stick Making
Wood is selected, shaped and finished by hand to make walking sticks. This series observes the artisan’s tools, working methods and attention to detail.
Traditional Glass Evil Eye Bead Making
In a workshop filled with heat and colour, molten glass becomes a traditional evil eye bead. The photographs capture the demanding process behind each piece.
Traditional Hand-Printed Fabrics – Nasra Şimmeshindi
Nasra Şimmeshindi creates patterned fabrics by hand. Her work brings together cloth, colour and decorative traditions in a personal craft practice.
Traditional Saddlemaking
The saddlemaker cuts, assembles and repairs equipment for working animals. These images document the materials and skilled handwork behind the craft.
Traditional Basket Making
Natural materials are woven into baskets through repeated, practiced movements. The series records the hands, tools and forms of traditional basket making.
Traditional Silver Filigree
Traditional Silver Filigree is made from fine silver wire, carefully shaped and joined into delicate patterns. The photographs focus on the intricacy of the work.
Traditional Tinsmithing — Tire 1999 & Tarsus 2008
Two photographic studies of tinsmiths restoring copper vessels through cleaning, heating and applying a fresh tin coating in their workshops.
Traditional Broom Making — Kırklareli
In 2006, I returned to Kırklareli to photograph broom makers at work, recording their tools, hand movements and the changing forms of broom fibres inside small workshops.
Traditional Rope Making — Ali Usta, Tire
In Tire in 1999, I visited Ali Usta, one of the last craftsmen making rope entirely by hand, to document his materials, tools and skilled work.
Traditional Reed Screen Making — İzmir, 2008
In a Roma neighbourhood of İzmir, families and children assemble reed screens by hand, binding stalks with wire to make natural shade coverings and garden fences.
Traditional Silk and Hand Weaving — Antakya
Two documentary series from 2010 and 2012 follow silk preparation, women’s skilled finishing work and hand weaving in a modest Antakya workshop.