Selin Yurdakul
Photographer exploring how people engage with urban environments, with a focus on belonging.
Key Themes: Belonging in urban environments · Dialogue in public spaces · Participatory and dialogic practices in the city · Games · Storytelling · Walking
At the heart of my work is an exploration of belonging — how people create, sense, and sustain it within the textures of urban life. I am drawn to the subtle gestures, shared rhythms, and small acts through which people claim space and connect to one another in cities. Rooted in sociology and communication sciences, my practice looks at the city as a living conversation — a place where meaning is constantly co-created through encounters, memory, and everyday movement.
I approach this inquiry through dialogue and walking. Dialogue allows me to see how different voices and perspectives shape a shared sense of place; walking becomes a way of listening — of being in quiet conversation with the city itself. Through photography, collaborative projects, and walking-based storytelling, I explore the diversity of interactions that hold communities together and make belonging visible.
I usually work on themes and focus on their connection to the city, documenting their spatial manifestations over time. My work is dialogic in nature and collaborative whenever possible.
Selected Projects
Wish: Aya Yorgi (2008 - Present, Istanbul)
A participatory project documenting a wish-making ritual on Buyukada, where people leave colored threads along paths and trees. The project highlights syncretic practices, collective engagement, and the freedom of ritual space outside everyday norms.
Make Yourself at Home (2009, Istanbul)
Exploring the “in-between” spaces of hotel rooms, this project invited participants to bring personal objects and transform a temporary room into a home. Through photography and storytelling, it investigates memory, identity, and how people inhabit transient spaces.
A collaborative, play-like exploration of cities through photography, storytelling, and painting. A participatory storytelling project, producing narratives that reflect the multilayered, ever-changing nature of urban spaces in collaboration with a local resident from each city. Awarded Special Mention at Experimento BIO 2013, Bilbao, Spain.
Messages from Galata Bridge (2025, Istanbul)
Documenting messages left on the bridge by locals and visitors, this project celebrates collective urban expression and the city as a shared diary.
Child City: Photographs from Salı Pazarı Flea Market (2025, Istanbul)
Through the lens of objects, especially well-loved toys, this photography project reflects the collective memory and personality of the city’s inhabitants, revealing how daily life shapes urban identity.
Reasons to Walk (2025, Istanbul)
Exploring urban walkability and sociological aspects of daily life, these projects use video and participatory prompts to document how people interact with cities.
Editorial & Translation Work
Founder & Editor, Pocketful Illustration Magazine, print-on-demand Magazine (2008–2015)
Book translations: The House on Mango Street (Sandra Cisneros), The Reckoning & The Burning (Jane Casey), Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen), Chime (Franny Billingsley), Chasing Amanda (Melissa Foster)
Residencies & Awards
OT301 Amsterdam, Artist Residency Program, Dec 2013–Feb 2014
Stichting Kaus Australis Rotterdam, Artist Residency Program, Oct 2012–Jan 2013
Special Mention, Experimento BIO 2013, MEM & Phake, Bilbao, Spain (Project I Am Here)
Selected Exhibitions
Jan 2013: Stichting Kaus Australis, Rotterdam, Project I am Here – Rotterdam - by Selin Yurdakul and Şahin Özbay
Nov 2012: Stichting Kaus Australis, Rotterdam, Kaus Australis Open Studios
May 2012: Kulturni Center Grad, Belgrade, Project I am Here - Belgrade - by Selin Yurdakul and Şahin Özbay
Mar 2012: Kriterion, Sarajevo, Project I am Here - Sarajevo - by Selin Yurdakul and Şahin Özbay
May 2004: Club Academia, Istanbul, Cistern Group Exhibition - “There is no document of culture which is not at the same time a document of barbarism” (Benjamin)
Additional group exhibitions: 10+
Research Interests
Belonging in urban environments· Dialogic practices · Ritual practices · Games · Play theory · Participatory storytelling practices