Eylül Aslan is a photography artist and a Turkish feminist that is known for her gender-defying photography.

Early life

Aslan was born and raised in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, Turkey. She studied French language and literature at Istanbul University and eventually moved to

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, Germany. Born to a mother who was a complete

liberal feminist Liberal feminism, also called mainstream feminism, is a main branch of feminism defined by its focus on achieving gender equality through political and legal reform within the framework of liberal democracy. It is often considered culturally ...

and the Chief of Women's Rights for the Turkish opposition party CHP, and a father, surprisingly, from the conservative north and is devoutly Muslim, Aslan believes her family is an accurate representation of Turkey itself. “There is a mix of everything.” After her parents’ divorce, Aslan, the only child, spent much time around her mother. “She’s had a big influence on me. She’s the one who gave me my first camera – so it’s all her fault.”

Photography

Aslan has also been “sexually harassed more times than she can count. Women around the world are treated like objects, but it’s somehow more aggressive in Turkey.” She started with self-portrait, modeling for her own photos. Her cousin then became her first muse, and then gradually her friends wanted to model for her. However, they would constantly ask her to make sure that nobody recognized them. Aslan's art has a clear focus on women. She positions her models in states of undress before cracked mirrors and distorted glass, and creates figures that are fractured and bare, consciously

objectifying In social philosophy, objectification is the act of treating a person, as an object or a thing. It is part of dehumanization, the act of disavowing the humanity of others. Sexual objectification, the act of treating a person as a mere object of sex ...

the female form. As topics such as gender and sexuality have grown to be increasing important in Turkey, Aslan believes such reactions to her work is due to the lack of open discourse about women in Turkish society. “We don’t have female role-models that women can attach to,” she explains. In 2008, at the insistence of her cousin, and despite her father's approval, Eylül started a

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account and uploaded her photos, formally attaching her name to her work. By 2012, her work had gained a following in Turkey.“I cried at my first exhibition in Istanbul”, Eylül says, “women came up to me and said, ‘We have to turn the mirror on ourselves, to look at ourselves and see if we are happy.’"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aslan, Eylul Turkish women photographers Turkish feminists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Turkish women 21st-century Turkish photographers