Aga Luczakowska I Female Islambul

Photo © Aga Luczakowska-All Rights Reserved

It was said that in the early 1930s Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (the first president of Turkey) thought of a Machiavellian way to persuade Turkish women to discard their yashmak ( diaphanous Turkish veils) as he regarded this Islamic tradition regressive and primitive. He simply issued a presidential decree that all prostitutes had to wear a veil.

Overnight, all the women in Turkey discarded theirs.

I thought this apocryphal story is a great introduction to Aga Luczakowska's Female Islambul, a collection of monochrome street photographs which depict the current resurgence of veils in Turkish society. She also features Istanbul Girls, a gallery of color photographs of modern unveiled young women in Istanbul night clubs.

Aga Luczakowska started her career as a staff photographer for the Polish daily newspaper "Dziennik Zachodni Polska The Times". In 2007, she traveled to Istanbul where she photographed for two years.Subsequently, she studied in Italy with NOOR Agency founder Stanley Greene, then continued to Romania to pursue various photographic projects in Romania.

Her work appeared in various newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, The Moscow Times, Dziennik Zachodni, National Geographic Magazine (International) and more Polish newspapers and magazines.