Samet Durgun Fotograaf
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A person lies in soft light wearing a feather boa, the cover photograph of Come Get Your Honey.

Samet Durgun, Fotograaf

Wat als fotografie meer over luisteren gaat dan over kijken?

Als immigrant van de eerste generatie en queer kunstenaar in Berlijn heb ik geworsteld met de vraag wat erbij horen betekent. Ik vond aansluiting bij gendernonconforme, queer en transgender vluchtelingen en asielzoekers in de stad, wier complexe identiteiten diep respect bij mij oproepen. Volledig statement, biografie en cv →

hi@sametdurgun.com @hi.sametdurgun

Come Get Your Honey, 2018–

There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.

Martha Graham
A person in a black mesh top stands against a dark wall flecked with light, arms folded across their chest.
Prince Emrah at Silver Future Emrah, a non-binary person from Turkmenistan, after a show. She found her healing in belly dancing after arriving in Berlin, and has since danced on the city's biggest queer stages, and at weddings.
A pale wooden back door in a Berlin courtyard, with plants growing up around the threshold.
Backyard Ivy
A hand rests on the back of a red dress, close in and cropped tight.
Suryani's Body “According to sharia laws in Malaysia, a trans* person born in a Muslim family belongs to prison. This is our faith,” said Suryani. For years she passed as Hindu. She fled Malaysia, and after a four-year asylum process in Denmark ended up seeking asylum a second time, in Germany.
A person in a blue belly-dance costume sits in half-light, hands lifted to their hair.
Mona Lisa
A person reclines by a window, holding a patterned garment above their head.
Gabo Gazing “At my internship, people want to teach me coding, but I don't want that. I want to start studying European law,” Gabo told me. Gabo is non-binary, from Yemen; the name is a pseudonym we agreed on for the book.
Figures silhouetted in blue fog under a single bright light at night.
Reenactment of an Arrival From a video shoot in Berlin: a group of gender-nonconforming, trans* and queer refugee and asylum-seeking artists re-enact their arrival in Germany.
A person in a blue dress stands at a kitchen sink, dark hair falling over their shoulder.
Mirna in Her Kitchen She fled the war in Syria with her family. When she then came out as trans*, her family rejected her; she now lives in an apartment provided for LGBTQ+ teens.
A bar window lit red at night, graffiti spread across the facade around it.
Silver Future
A person with pink hair sits in a kitchen with orange curtains and a laid table.
Emrah's Kitchen
A person sits in a kitchen doorway beside a shisha pipe, white shirt open, a broom leaning in the light.
Self-Portrait With Julie's Makeup I made this self-portrait after a makeup workshop in the dorm reserved for trans and queer refugees and asylum seekers at risk. A friend I had come to know by photographing her saw how raw my own attempt was and decided to paint me herself. We went to her kitchen at sunset. Her shadow is in the picture now, literally and otherwise.
A person in a red sequinned dress stands in a doorway, seen from behind.
Fatal Flash
A portrait in a gold bridal headdress and layered jewellery, eyes meeting the camera.
Malaysian Dancer
A person wearing a peacock-feather fan stands deep in overgrown green foliage, one hand reaching out.
Malaysian Peacock Dancer (I Chose Art to Protect Myself) A non-binary person from Malaysia, near the dorm reserved for LGBTQIA+ refugees and asylum seekers at risk.
A hand reaches from a window through net curtains and leaves.
The 15th Home A refugee at her 15th home in Germany. A long-term flat is nearly impossible to find in Berlin.
A person lies in soft light wearing a feather boa, the cover photograph of Come Get Your Honey.
Keil Li at Patricia's Lap “I started doing makeup once I needed to cover a bruise after my father beat me. My mom gave me her concealer,” Keil Li, a gender-nonconforming person from Libya, once told me.
One person lies with their head in another's lap, a hand resting on their hair.
“She Is My Mom” (Dormmates) A queer refugee from Afghanistan rests his head in the lap of his lesbian friend from Iran.
Laundry hangs on lines strung across a bright room with white brick walls.
Drying Rack
A person in a pink headscarf looks out through a curtained window.
Keil Li Gazing
A portrait of a person in a red corset and taped wig cap against a red wall.
Keil Li in the Changing Room
A figure in a blue gown stands in a basement doorway crowned by a lit candelabra.
Prince Emrah at SO36
A person stands in a lit basement doorway covered in stickers, wearing a beaded fringe costume.
Self-Potrait in Prince Emrah's Costume Me, in my friend Prince Emrah's costume. She is a belly dancer, a beauty-and-wellness student, and the mother of a collective that celebrates trans and queer refugee and asylum-seeking artists in Berlin. The picture grew out of our friendship and our collaboration.
A figure stands out of focus in a Berlin street, low sun catching the buildings behind.
At the End of Our Walk
The runway markings at Tempelhof field, a kite far in the distance.
The City We Are in (Tempelhofer Feld) Tempelhofer Feld: the largest inner-city open space in the world and Berlin's biggest park. It was once an airport, and more recently the site of a refugee camp.
A skater crosses Tempelhof field in a yellow jacket under heavy clouds.
Roller Kite
Long dark hair extensions laid out on a white sheet.
Hair To Donate
A tattoo reading “mother” at the base of a neck, under a silver chain and an open plaid collar.
Mother Tattoo “It is too late now,” he told me, about his mother accepting him as a trans man.
The cascade in Viktoriapark running down through summer greenery in Berlin.
Waterfall in Viktoriapark
A person sits on a balcony in golden evening light, the city soft beyond the netting.
The Artist Before seeking asylum in Germany she completed two BAs at respected universities in Turkey, one in fine arts and one in art history.
A person in costume sits on a sofa beneath a candelabra headdress.
Prince Emrah With Headpiece
Two people in evening gowns sit on a white sofa, drinks on the table before them.
Dancers at Their Break Noéline and Julie, dancers, in a Berlin bar before their shows. Noéline la Bouche is a burlesque performer, singer and model living in Berlin, German with West African roots; Julie Dancer is a transgender refugee from Malaysia who sought asylum in Berlin.
A pair of studded ankle boots on a dark floor.
Tight Heels
Two hands rest together on a bed in low afternoon light.
The Sun Sets on Beautiful Ones A refugee whose parents do not know she is a trans woman.
A person kneels in sunlight, dark hair thrown upward mid-motion.
Mirna Whipping
A Berlin high-rise facade at dusk, red balconies running down one side.
View From the 18th Floor The view from the apartment where Suryani lives. The rent is covered by the government.
A person in a McDonald's work jacket and backwards cap smokes against a concrete wall.
Keil Li at Mc Donald's

Het boek

Het boek Come Get Your Honey op een gestreepte deken.

Come Get Your Honey

Kehrer Verlag, juni 2021 · ISBN 978-3-96900-031-1

Come Get Your Honey is gemaakt met queer, trans en gendernonconforme vluchtelingen en asielzoekers in Berlijn, in drie jaar gedeelde tijd. Het begon met een vraag die ik niet kon loslaten: wat als fotografie meer over luisteren gaat dan over kijken?

Bijna vijftig mensen staan achter het werk, en ongeveer vijftien van hen zijn in de serie geportretteerd, die zichtbaarheid en anonimiteit mengt. Sommige medewerkers kozen ervoor om gezien te worden, anderen kozen daar niet voor, en het boek geeft beide keuzes evenveel gewicht. De portretten staan naast foto's van Berlijn zelf, waardoor de openheid en de hardheid van de stad op dezelfde pagina's samenkomen.

Tentoonstellingen

LogoSchwules MuseumBerlijn, Duitsland · 2026–27 · Binnenkort

Nicht die Letzten Groepstentoonstelling

LogoLANGER Space for PhotographyMannheim, Duitsland · 2026

Gaze and Skin Groepstentoonstelling

Poster: LANGER. Space for Photography, with the Kulturamt der Stadt Mannheim
LogoFotografiska Berlin (Emerging Berlin)Berlijn, Duitsland · 2025

Come Get Your Honey Solotentoonstelling

Photo: Ivan Erofeev / @ivaan_erofeev
LogoKunstmuseum BrandtsOdense, Denemarken · 2024–25

Love, Lust and Freedom Groepstentoonstelling

Photo: David Stjernholm / @david_stjernholm
Logo: Staatliche Museen zu BerlinMuseum für FotografieBerlijn, Duitsland · 2021

Seen By #15: Nothing Ever Happened (Yet) Groepstentoonstelling

Journal

Veldgidsen

Come Get Your Honey staat niet op zichzelf. Elf veldgidsen over waar het staat. Zeven gaan over de fotografen en fotoboeken die rond dezelfde vragen werken, en nog vier over de kunstenaars die hetzelfde doen in andere media.

Fotografie

Voorbij fotografie

Pers

Verschenen in

Fotografiska: Solotentoonstelling in Emerging Berlin, Fotografiska Berlin, 2025LANGER. Space for Photography: Gaze and Skin, een groepstentoonstelling, 2026Kunstmuseum Brandts: Tentoongesteld in Love, Lust and Freedom, 2024–25Schwules Museum: Nicht die Letzten, een groepstentoonstelling, 2026–27Kehrer Verlag: Uitgever van Come Get Your Honey, 2021Deichtorhallen Hamburg: Essay voor #photography2050, HALLE4Kunstbibliothek — Staatliche Museen zu Berlin: Mede-organisator van Seen By #15, Museum für Fotografie, 2021Universität der Künste Berlin: Common Ground-mentoraat, 2020/21 · samenwerking aan Seen By #15Deutsche Fotografische Akademie: Reverse Portfolio Walk, in gesprek met Karina-Sirkku KurzDer Greif: KunstenaarsportretLeica Fotografie International: Boek van de maand, door Ulrich Rüter, 2021GQ Germany: Artikel door Verena Aichinger, 2021i-D: Interview door Marco Frattaruolo, i-D Italy, 2021KALTBLUT: Emerging Berlin-interview, 2025Vakuum Magazine: Tenderness as Survival, door Thinley Wingen, 2025WhiteWall: Emerging Berlin-artikel, 2025 (Duits)Impressions Gallery: Photobook Fair-gesprek, Bradford, 2021IFA Berlin: Spreker, 4–8 september 2026Dazed: Galerij van Love, Lust and Freedom, met twee werken afgebeeld, 2024Container Love: A Must-Visit Queer Exhibition, door Javier Zamora-Kalazich, 2024Out & About: Fotografiets fortællinger i Odense, 2024 (Deens)e-flux: Tentoonstellingsaankondiging voor Love, Lust and Freedom, 2024Camera Austria International: Nummer 154/2021, gepresenteerd door Maren Lübbke-Tidow

Informatie

Photo: Sibylle Fendt

Mijn werk daagt de traditionele opvatting van fotografie als louter kijken uit en stelt voor dat het meer over luisteren kan gaan. Ik probeer mensen in hun volledigheid vast te leggen en hun verschillen te omarmen, terwijl ik de beperkingen van representatie erken. Mijn beelden weerspiegelen mijn persoonlijke relaties en indrukken van hun verhalen, waardoor ze een subjectieve weergave van mijn eigen ervaringen worden.

hi@sametdurgun.com @hi.sametdurgun