My name is Mustafa Çankaya and I’m a photographer from Istanbul who also works at Atatürk Airport.
I see thousands of different faces passing by everyday, from every culture and every part of the world. It is like a treasure for a photographer like me! This inspired me to combine my passion for photography with my work at the airport and create a new project called “100 Faces 100 Countries”.
Almost everyday I walk around the transit section of the airport trying to find the right face. The person that I decide to shoot has to be different in some way. It could be the hairstyle or the dress but the most important is the atmosphere between me and the participant.
I have started my project in March 2018 and currently I have 117 portraits from 77 different countries. I will continue my project with the hope of having an exhibition of 100 different countries.
When I posted my project on Bored Panda in May 2018, it was published by German, Portugese, French, Bulgarian and Turkish media.
I love how this project connects the world in one place!
More info: Instagram
#1 Ibrahim Zethy From Rwanda
This is what happens if you meet a dancer from Rwanda at the airport. Thanks to Ibrahim Zethy!
#2 Nicole From Ukraine
Nicole is a tattoo artist from Odessa. She was starting a tour in Europe for tattoo lovers.
#3 Freya From Scotland
Freya studies Human Sciences at University of Oxford. She was flying to Kenya for her studies.
#4 Bash From Lebanon
Bash arrived from the Burning Man festival, the dust is still on his shoes. He is a percussion artist playing djembe drum.
#5 Jussi From Finland
Jussi owns a tattoo studio in Helsinki. We met before his flight to Africa. He was going to have a long journey to the middle of the jungle.
#6 Shayma From Kuwait
Shayma was following the project before we met. She wrote me between her connecting flight to Greece. She studies medicine in Malta and also volunteers for refugees in Athens.
#7 Frédéric From France
Frédéric is a teacher in Nigeria. After 2 months summer vacation he was flying back to start the new semester. By the way, the jacket is his own design.
#8 Kavinthida From Thailand
Kavinthida had holidays in Denmark. She had a very long layover.
#9 Parl From Estonia
Parl is a heptathlete from Estonia. Hereby I’ve learned that “hepta” means seven in Greek. We have met before her flight Houston.
#10 Sara From Tanzania
Sara was in Barcelona for holidays. I really love the natural look in this picture.
#11 Indrė From Lithuania
Indrė was heading to California to spend her summer there.
#12 Sara From Iran
Happy to have Sara in the project! She studies dentistry and design in Moscow.
#13 Idris From Nigeria
Idris is a fashion stylist from Nigeria. You can hire him both in Nigeria and Kenya! He travels a lot and we met just before his flight to New York.
#14 Christophe From Belgium
His T-shirt rocks! It even made me ask Christophe to join the project.
#15 Katirina From Bulgaria
Katirina was on work & travel program at New Jersey with her friend. I met them on the way back to Bulgaria.
#16 May From Lebanon
May loves to travel. She volunteered at a refugee camp and was on the way to Egypt for work.
#17 Sebastian From Poland
Sebastian’s last adventure was the trip to the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan. He climbed to the Peak Korzhenevskaya which is 7105 m high and it took him 8 days. He was there at the same time (13th August) when the helicopter crash happened and three Russian climbers and two Tajik pilots died in the accident.
#18 Jargal From Mongolia
I have met Jargal before her flight to Ulaanbaatar. She studies in Frankfurt, Germany.
#19 Gorana From Serbia
Gorana was having a quick drink before her flight to Belgrade.
#20 Frankie J From England
Frankie J is one of the best house dancers on the planet. We have met before at Istanbul Street Dance Carnival. He was the judge for House Dance contest and I was a photographer there.
#21 Paris From United States
Her full name is Paris London. What a beautiful name! She had lovely holidays in Greece and was heading home.
#22 Rahma From Tunisia
Rahma is a sports teacher. She was on the way to Romania.
#23 Lubna From Egypt
Lubna is a psytrance Dj from Egypt. She lives in Sharm el Sheikh.
#24 Ed From Kenya
Ed has both British & Kenya nationalities. He was waiting for his flight to Nairobi country.
#25 Aldar From Russia
Aldar grew up in United Kingdom and still lives in London.
#26 Luna From Chile
Luna had holidays with her friends in Kenya. She lives in Germany.
#27 Daria From Ukraine
Daria had a flight to China for the next model shooting.
#28 Gerd From Denmark
Gerd denied my offer to participate in my project at first. But, she had enough time to think about it when she was in Niger! When she came back, she explained that she liked the way this project connects people from all over the world. We met again on her way back to Denmark and had enough time for a photoshoot and a conversation.
#29 Anja From Slovenia
Anja is the third face from Slovenia and as you see Slovenians travel a lot! I’ll probably meet half of the country until the end of the project.
#30 Miljana From Serbia
Miljana is a tattoo artist. She was having holidays with her boyfriend.
#31 Jacob From Sweden
Jacob is a medical student from Sweden. He was on the way to Sudan with a group of international students.
#32 Ilya From Russia
Ilya Varlamov is one of the most famous bloggers & reporters from Russia. He was preparing a video for his YouTube channel when we met. Thanks to Ilya, most of the project followers are from Russia.
#33 Martina From Austria
Thanks for spreading love Martina!
#34 Florencia From Argentina
Florencia is a forensic anthropologist. She works for the Red Cross and her last destination was Georgia.
#35 Sadeem From Pakistan
Sadeem studies Global Development in the University of Copenhagen. He loves to play his guitar as a hobby.
#36 Boubakar From Niger
Boubakar is the leader of the pilgrim group. I met him on his way back to Hajj.
#37 Barkinado From Senegal
Barkinado is a Senegalese painter and he has an upcoming exhibition at France La Motte-Servolex.
#38 Mustapha From Morocco
Mustapha is a member of the band called Daraa Tribes. Their music is a fusion of the ancestral tribal music of the Draa Valley with the Sahara blues specific to the city of Tagounite (an oasis in the heart of the Moroccan dessert)
#39 Simon Cheng From Taiwan
Photographer Simon Cheng was documenting the refugees in Slovenia. When we met, he was heading to Northern Irak where the refugees are coming from. Hope to meet him on his way back to hear his story!
#40 Sophie From France
Sophie plays her guitar as a hobby. When I met her, she was waiting for her flight to Lebanon. She has chosen a good destination to learn Arabic!
#41 Michele From Germany
Michele had a holiday in Phuket and was heading back to Berlin.
#42 Philip Chang From South Korea
Chang with his friend arrived to Sweden. We met on their way back to Seoul.
#43 Mr. Dheo From Portugal
We met with Mr. Dheo after my project was published on Portuguese newspaper. He was in Dubai and wrote me that he will transit via Istanbul. We made an appointment for the shooting session and had an excellent outcome.
#44 Takeshi From Japan
Takeshi is an architect and fashion designer from Japan. He designed his dress which was inspired by the Arabic dress called thawb.
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