Professional photographer Mehmet Genç photographed women from various indigenous communities to see how they would react when told they are beautiful.
Genç, a Turkish travel photographer, goes by the name of Rotasiz Seyyah which roughly translates to nomad without a route. He worked for six years is IT in Istanbul before quitting his job to pursue his passion of photography.
One of the quotes from his site reads:
“Fools courage can sometimes help you make the most important decisions in your life.”
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Born and raised in Samsum, Turkey, Genç began traveling in 2012 and picked up English and Spanish along the way.
He has visited nine different indigenous communities and is currently in the state of Amazonas in Manaus, Brazil.
His project titled “You are so beautiful” began in January 2015. Genç began documenting before and after photos of women’s reactions when told they were beautiful.
He specifically chose older women as the subjects of his project because he believes they have not heard any such compliment in the last 10 to 15 years of their lives.
Sometimes he encounters people who have lived as long as a hundred years. He says the compliment has a similar effect regardless of age.
After photographing the women, Genç takes down the information of the women including their name, age and address.
In the future, he plans to retrace his steps and take similar before and after photos of the same women. His tentative trip will be after 2023.
