In Turkiye's 'house of photos', the world as seen through the lens of children

In a dimly lit room illuminated by a pair of red lamps, eight-year-old Zeynep waits to see photographs she has taken, now trapped as shadows and silhouettes on a roll of film. “How big is your curiosity?” asks her mentor, 40-year-old photographer Amar Kilic, as he develops the negatives in a sink. “As big as the world,” she replies. Zeynep, 8-year-old, looks at a camera film during a workshop held as part of Fotohane Darkroom project in Mardin, southeastern Turkiye, on June 13, 2026. — AFP Originally from the southeastern province of Mardin, Zeynep is among eight children taking part in a two-month analogue photography workshop for local and migrant youth near Turkiye’s borders with Iraq and Syria. The project, called Fotohane Darkroom, started in Mardin in 2024, by Kilic and Syrian photographer and educator Serbest Salih. In Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish and Persian, Fotohane means “house of photo”, a name chosen by the children. Children choose film cameras at a workshop held as part of Fotohane Darkroom project in Mardin, southeastern Turkiye, on June 13, 2026. — AFP In fact, insists Kilic, the children are in charge throughout the process. “From loading film, to developing it and printing their own photographs, they do everything by themselves. They get to set and write their own rules also.” Fleeing IS Once part of Mesopotamia, the walls of Mardin’s old city, traversed by narrow streets, hold thousands of years of history and attract tourists from all over the world. But the city is also home to low-income families and refugees who fled Syria’s civil war. Among them are the families of 13-year-old Yahya, 12-year-old Yusuf, 11-year-old Nihal and 13-year-old Sam. They came from Damascus in 2014 and 2015 when Islamic State (IS) started a war inside Syria. “I’m very excited when I take pictures, it’s all very interesting for us”, says Nihal, swinging a small, black camera from her wrist as she searches for a frame to capture. Zeynep (R) and Zuhre (C), 9-year-old, look a