Berlin is the place where Helin is taking her photos, often roaming the city for hours to bring back home: apartment blocks, by-striding retired people, old buildings and the steel blue color of the sky. She is living in that town that she left behind for several travels to Iceland, Ethiopia and Thailand, for eight years now – while her family is staying in Istanbul. She speaks perfect German – only 11 years old she resolved to learn German, especially because of that German family she made friends with on a holiday.
From the straight lines and the selection of snippets you might see she studied architecture and loves order. But there is this other element of disorder, contrast and humour which puts emphasis on the imperfection of each of these photos. @helinbereket had benefited like many others from the suggested user list and increased her reach, but she does not want to call herself an influencer, or, what is even more surprising, a photographer – “I don’t like labels.”
Indirectly with her photos and captions, directly with different art projects (Helin did her master degree at the art academy in Berlin) she makes a mockery of the logic of success on Instagram. She opposes the well-being and selfie accounts with exact observations and funny captions – for instance the finissage of an exhibition: “If you want to see it, go home and cry because it’s over now.” Hashtags like #theconfusedpigeon or #helinsayshello are embosomed running gags of her.
Finally these are two examples of Helins art projects.
“Instaglam” was an art project of 48-hours-Neukölln. The photo collage out of footage material from Instagram “questions how people present themselves online and asks for the motivation of observing half fictional lifestyles of strangers.”
For the photo contest #veränderedeinePerspektive (#changeyourperspective) Helin developed a photo series with mirrors. Their characteristic to hide and reveal inspire to reflect on the view on the female body and the twist of facts.
@candagarslani
@ellamsinger
@juancamiloberlin
@thisaintartschool
