Sabiha Çimen (born 1986) is a Turkish photographer. Her series ''Hafiz'', about girls at Quran schools in Turkey, was shown in a solo exhibition at

Kunsthal The Kunsthal (; ) is an art space in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It opened in 1992. Overview The museum is situated in the Museumpark of Rotterdam next to the Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, and in the vicinity of the Museum Boijmans Van Beu ...

, Rotterdam. For ''Hafiz'', Çimen received a W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Grant, 2nd Prize in the Long-Term Projects category of the

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization holds the annual World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Since 2011, World Press Photo has orga ...

award, and the First Photobook Award at the

Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards The Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards is a yearly Photo-book, photography book award that is given jointly by Paris Photo and Aperture Foundation. It is announced at the Paris Photo fair and was established in 2012. The categories ...

Early life and education

Çimen was born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

to an ethnically Kurdish Persian family. She graduated from

Istanbul Bilgi University Istanbul Bilgi University () is a private university founded in 1996, located in Eyüpsultan, Istanbul, Turkey. The university has four campuses in Istanbul: SantralIstanbul, Kuştepe, Dolapdere, and Kozyatağı. History The university was ...

with an undergraduate degree in international trade and finance, and a master's degree in cultural studies. Her master's thesis on subaltern studies, which includes her photo story "Turkey as a Simulated Country", was published in 2019. She is a self-taught photographer.

Life and work

Çimen's book ''Hafiz: Guardians of the Qur'an'' (2021) shows the daily lives of students at girls-only Hafiz schools throughout Turkey. "Hafiz" means "guardian" and refers to people who memorize the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

. Çimen spent 3 years herself studying in such a school, where she returned to in 2017 to begin making this autobiographical work. She went on to photograph Quran schools elsewhere until 2021. Çimen became a

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...

Nominee member in 2020.

Personal life

Çimen has a twin sister.

Publications

* ''Turkey as a Simulated Country''.

Cambridge Scholars Cambridge Scholars Publishing (CSP) is an academic book publisher based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is not affiliated with the University of Cambridge or Cambridge University Press. It began as the hobby project of a Cambridge alumnus ...

, 2019. . *''Hafiz: Guardians of the Qur'an''. Red Hook, 2021. . Edition of 2000 copies.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*''Hafiz'', Visa pour l'Image, Perpignan, France, 2022 *''Sabiha Çimen: Hafiz'',

, Rotterdam, Netherlands, January–May 2023

Group exhibitions

*''Close Enough: New Perspectives from 12 Women Photographers of Magnum'',

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

, New York, September 2022 – January 2023, included Çimen's ''Hafiz''

Awards

*2018: 3rd Prize, PHmuseum Women Photographer Grant *2020: W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Grant Recipient. One of five co-winners. *2020: 2nd Prize, Long-Term Projects category,

for ''Hafız'' *2020: Canon Female Photojournalist Grant, for ''Hafiz''. An €8,000 award. *2022: Winner, First Photobook Award,

for ''Hafiz''

References

Magnum photographers Turkish women photographers Photographers from Istanbul Istanbul Bilgi University alumni Living people 1986 births 21st-century Turkish photographers {{Photographer-stub