Eastern Promise

Peter Dench talks to Özge Sebzeci about her difficult yet important project, facilitated by the Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award

- Peter Dench

Last year was a good one for the career of 31-year-old Turkish photojournalist, Özge Sebzeci. As well as being the winner of the Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award (MSFA), she was selected from over 600 applicants as one of 10 Magnum Foundation Photography and Social Justice Fellows.

The Magnum program’s mission is to expand diversity and creativity in documentary photography. Özge met her fellows in New York for intense and extensive classes. ‘The first time I went for a month and learnt how to use a 360 camera and other technologies. I was encouraged to tell visual stories in a different way,’ explains Özge. The MSFA award has allowed Özge to progress the photo-reportage for which she won it. ‘I Am Beautiful... But My Destiny...’ focuses on the prevalence of marriage and divorce among Syrian refugee children settled in the Anatolian region of Turkey. As a result of the war in Syria, many families married off their teenage daughters hoping it would protect them. Many of the child marriages fail and can leave the girl without rights and facing stigma.