On a map marked by borders, I embarked on a journey to understand the concept of 'home' and the profound experience of being without one. I visited 12 countries in seven years, crossing not just physical borders but also invisible boundaries in my mind. Along the way, I realised the differences between near and far are not as stark as one might think.
The images that emerged from this journey became more than mere documentation. They fundamentally question the very notion of borders and the ideologies that uphold them. Each frame depicts a different take on displacement and migration. It is a series about movement, exile and the search for belonging. But ultimately, it is about the fragile, shifting nature of home itself.
Hüseyin Ovayolu is an artist from Gaziantep, Turkey. He has lived in London since 2022. To learn more about his journey, read our interview with the artist.
Gazimağusa, Northern Cyprus 2018
After the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation, this area was taken under control by the Turkish Armed Forces and has remained closed to settlement ever since. Once one of the Mediterranean’s most popular holiday and entertainment destinations, Varosha (Maraş) is now a ghost town. Long held as a political bargaining chip, the area has recently begun to reopen gradually to tourism.
Qalandia, Palestine 2019
This area between Qalandia and Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, was once part of the old Jerusalem Airport. The last plane to land there was carrying Yasser Arafat’s body. After that, the airport was closed. The Israeli government later built housing projects here, hoping they would induce Muslim residents of Jerusalem to relocate voluntarily.
Yerevan, Armenia 2022
This statue appeared when I got lost in the streets of Yerevan during my first visit after the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (2020-22). The eagle is Armenia's national animal, and I found no better symbol of its defeat than this.
Yerevan, Armenia 2022
Traces of history can sometimes become memories or tourist attractions. This statue of Lenin, which I stumbled upon in the garden of an apartment building, still seems to be warning us that ‘Big Brother is watching you.’
Hebron (Al-Khalil), Palestine 2019
In Hebron, a city in the occupied West Bank also known as Al-Khalil, the Israeli occupation has taken control of nearly the entire city centre. The result is a city that feels abandoned. For many displaced Palestinians, even the idea of returning to their own homes has become nothing more than a dream. Throughout the city, you can see numerous murals reflecting this painful reality.
Borders – whether physical, cultural, or imagined – are used to control, divide and erase.
Baku, Azerbaijan 2021
This is the exterior view of a neighbourhood where people who fled the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh have settled. People say they want to return to their villages, but they also say it is difficult to leave the lives they have now built here.
Armavir, Armenia 2022
In this city, one of the closest to the Turkish border, you can still see traces of the Soviets. The impoverished people here hope the border will open and trade with Turkey will develop.
Qalandia, Palestine 2019
More than just a symbolic border crossing, this gate is also one of the most significant and heavily used checkpoints in the region. Located near Ramallah, it has been the site of numerous protests and demonstrations over the years.
Jerusalem, Israel 2019
At first glance, it seems like an ordinary photograph of the Western Wall – a sacred site for Jews. But it quietly speaks to the fragility that defines Jerusalem and the region as a whole. It reminds us how thin the line is between tension and conflict, between war and peace.
Zonguldak, Turkey 2021
An artist painting a picture of ‘beautiful Zonguldak’ on the wall of a fishermen's shelter on the Zonguldak coast. On the right, the Black Sea is reflected in a mirror.
Adana, Turkey 2018
Seasonal workers in southern Turkey wash their children in front of the tents where they live. Water is very precious, so the water that runs off the children is being re-used to wash the carpets. Despite low wages and poor living conditions, these workers have little choice but to return to the same job every year.
I’m interested in what happens after a border is drawn: how people continue to live, resist, and carry their sense of home after it has been fractured.
Adana, Turkey 2018
This bird market, held every Sunday, has become one of the symbols of the city. Caged birds are, to me, a great symbol running through my work on displacement, borders and migration.
Baku, Azerbaijan 2021
A view of the back streets of the capital city of an oil-rich country.
İzmir, Turkey 2017
In İzmir, a Kemalist city, it is possible to find portraits or statues of Atatürk everywhere. But the largest of these statues is in the Kadifekale neighbourhood, where Kurds live in large numbers.
Balaxanı, Azerbaijan 2021
In Balaxanı, the site of Azerbaijan’s first oil extraction, local residents continue to live side by side with oil drilling machinery. Despite the country’s vast natural resources, income inequality remains stark. What’s striking is the silence of the public in the face of this disparity and the political authority that allows it to persist.
Sındırgı, Turkey 2017
A child sleeps at his family's stall in a market near where Turkey's famous oil wrestling takes place.
Mersin, Turkey 2017
Captive, but not cowed.
To witness without responding is a form of detachment I cannot accept.
Akçakoyunlu Train Station, Karkamış, Turkey 2020
This train station, located right on the border, holds witness to a painful chapter in history. During the Armenian genocide, it was the final stop for many Armenians brought from across Anatolia, who were then deported to the deserts of Syria. Just beyond the wall behind the station lies Syrian territory – a land that has also been marked by massacres and death.
Van, Turkey 2021
The world's largest unmarked refugee cemetery. Hundreds of unidentified people who froze to death or were killed by soldiers on the Iranian border are buried in this cemetery. New bodies are added every day.
Syrian Border, Karkamış, Turkey 2020
The road to Syria from Gaziantep, Turkey.
Images by Hüseyin Ovayolu. Used with permission, all rights reserved. For more, read our interview with the artist.
