Istanbul is the only metropolis in the world that spans two continents — Europe and Asia — and it embodies the tensions between globalization and tradition, modernity and heritage.

Over 80 years ago, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk initiated one of the most radical secularization programs ever undertaken in a Muslim-majority society. With the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923, women were granted equal legal status with men, and secular nationalism became a cornerstone of the country’s vision for progress.

Despite these reforms, social transformation is never instantaneous. The headscarf, once banned in public institutions, has remained a point of tension in Turkish society. For some women, it represents religious duty and personal freedom; for others, it is perceived as a political symbol challenging the secular foundations of the Republic.

When I first visited Istanbul in 2006, I arrived with many of the assumptions commonly held by Europeans: that Turkish society is uniformly devout, conservative, and restrictive toward women. What I found instead was a far more complex reality — young Turkish women who defy stereotypes, and a spectrum of Islamic practice that challenges binary thinking.

This project is a visual exploration of the lives of young women in Istanbul — a cosmopolitan, layered city where secular and religious narratives intersect in everyday life. Through photography, I sought to understand not only how these women navigate identity, but also how the city itself reflects the broader cultural dialogues of contemporary Turkey.