Who is under it?

"Zinat" is the name of the project of the Turkish-born German Müjde Karaca. The word comes from Persian and means beauty or charm. Women from Germany, Turkey, Trinidad and Yugoslavia took pictures of her with a veil that only opens her eyes, with a headscarf and finally without any headgear. The transformations are astonishing and show how much we influence us in the estimation of persons of externals.

Headscarf: Who is under it?

Müjde Karaca, born in 1981 in Bamberg, works as a communication designer and project designer.



ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: What happens to a woman when she disguises herself?

Müjde Karaca: That is very different. For some women I photographed, the veil was familiar. You have felt comfortable with it, you have seen that. Others could not do anything with it, they felt restricted. This then radiates the picture.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: It is amazing how differently one perceives the veiled women.Müjde Karaca: Yes, you pay more attention to the eyes and try to find out what this person is feeling. If you meet a normal, unveiled woman in the street, do not think much. At the most: "Oh, she has a nice hairstyle." But when a woman is veiled, you as the beholder have many more questions: you want to know if she's being suppressed, how she looks like, if she's beautiful.



ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: Your illustrated book is called "Stimuli - a book about beauty". How did you come up with the idea of ​​disguising women for this topic?

Müjde Karaca: One of my semester papers was entitled "Reise". I thought: I was born and raised here, but my parents are from Turkey. So every day I embark on a journey between cultures. I wanted to visualize that. First, I photographed women from my family and my circle of acquaintances with and without a veil. After a successful exhibition at the Art Academy, I started to expand the project. How about women who I do not even know could understand my journey? Other aspects of obfuscation have come to the fore, "stimuli". It is said that the woman veils herself to cover her charms. I question that. Does a woman cover herself, because really her beauty? Or can she perhaps emphasize other beauties?



ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: So the veiling is just the sexy?

Müjde Karaca: For some already. It was important for me to show how different the opinions on this topic are. My book should not be a glorification of the veil, but also no discrimination. It is an analysis. For example, I have noticed in all women how important and beautiful their eyes are.

A veil is never just headdress

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: But headscarves can also be a sign of oppression and coercion. Did you have the feeling when photographing that the women felt restricted?

Müjde Karaca: Yes, some already. I have deliberately photographed women of different nationalities and cultures. There are also Muslim women, but I did not want it to be a book about Islam. That's not what I'm talking about. Some women lost patience while photographing, they got warm under the headscarf, they were annoyed. Others did not feel compelled, but felt that sometimes they would like to wear a headscarf.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: Because you can hide under it?

Müjde Karaca: Exactly. Because there are days when you do not want to show yourself. Even so, a veil is never just a headdress, it is an explosive symbol. The association with coercion and oppression is always present. Although I know many veiled women myself, I have a thousand questions when I see a woman wearing a veil in the street.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: Is headscarf wearing in your family an issue?

Müjde Karaca: My mother has been wearing a headscarf for almost ten years. That was very strange for me at the time. She was always very attuned to her hairstyle, has made every day nice and styled and suddenly she wanted to wear a headscarf for religious reasons. At that time, I started to wonder what happened to a woman when she was being veiled. I did not recognize my mother at first. I would not rule out for me to wear a headscarf sometime. For religious reasons, for example, it is quite normal for me.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde-woman.de: How were the reactions to your pictures?

Müjde Karaca: Women were often more biased.They wanted to know if it was my intention to show the woman's oppression. Men, on the other hand, have approached me much more often on the aspect of beauty. For them it was exciting to see what was under the cloth. And they were often taken by the women.

The book

Müjde Karaca: Zinat - charms A book about the beauty bankruptcy book publishing house 29.90 euros

Dreamville - Under The Sun ft. J. Cole, Lute & DaBaby (Official Audio) (March 2024).



Headscarf, Turkey, Germany, Yugoslavia, veil, Turkey, photography