Mustafa Çankaya Project 100 Faces 100 Countries, Unique People Photography

My name is Mustafa Çankaya and I’m a photographer from Istanbul who also works at Atatürk Airport.

I see thousands of different faces passing by everyday, from every culture and every part of the world. It is like a treasure for a photographer like me! This inspired me to combine my passion for photography with my work at the airport and create a new project called "100 Faces 100 Countries".

Almost everyday I walk around the transit section of the airport trying to find the right face. The person that I decide to shoot has to be different in some way. It could be the hairstyle or the dress but the most important is the atmosphere between me and the participant.

I have started my project in March 2018 and currently I have 117 portraits from 77 different countries. I will continue my project with the hope of having an exhibition of 100 different countries.

I love how this project connects the world in one place!

More info: Instagram

#1 Nicole From Ukraine

Nicole is a tattoo artist from Odessa. She was starting a tour in Europe for tattoo lovers.

#2 Ibrahim Zethy From Rwanda

This is what happens if you meet a dancer from Rwanda at the airport. Thanks to Ibrahim Zethy!

#3 Freya From Scotland

Freya studies Human Sciences at University of Oxford. She was flying to Kenya for her studies.

#4 Bash From Lebanon


Bash arrived from the Burning Man festival, the dust is still on his shoes. He is a percussion artist playing djembe drum.

#5 Jussi From Finland


Jussi owns a tattoo studio in Helsinki. We met before his flight to Africa. He was going to have a long journey to the middle of the jungle.

#6 Shayma From Kuwait


Shayma was following the project before we met. She wrote me between her connecting flight to Greece. She studies medicine in Malta and also volunteers for refugees in Athens.

#7 Frédéric From France

Frédéric is a teacher in Nigeria. After 2 months summer vacation he was flying back to start the new semester. By the way, the jacket is his own design.

#8 Parl From Estonia

Parl is a heptathlete from Estonia. Hereby I've learned that "hepta" means seven in Greek. We have met before her flight Houston.

#9 Kavinthida From Thailand

Kavinthida had holidays in Denmark. She had a very long layover.

#10 Indrė From Lithuania

Indrė was heading to California to spend her summer there.

#11 Christophe From Belgium

His T-shirt rocks! It even made me ask Christophe to join the project.

#12 May From Lebanon


May loves to travel. She volunteered at a refugee camp and was on the way to Egypt for work.

#13 Sara From Iran


Happy to have Sara in the project! She studies dentistry and design in Moscow.

#14 Katirina From Bulgaria


Katirina was on work & travel program at New Jersey with her friend. I met them on the way back to Bulgaria.

#15 Idris From Nigeria


Idris is a fashion stylist from Nigeria. You can hire him both in Nigeria and Kenya! He travels a lot and we met just before his flight to New York.

#16 Sara From Tanzania


Sara was in Barcelona for holidays. I really love the natural look in this picture.

#17 Gorana From Serbia


Gorana was having a quick drink before her flight to Belgrade.

#18 Jargal From Mongolia


I have met Jargal before her flight to Ulaanbaatar. She studies in Frankfurt, Germany.

#19 Sebastian From Poland


Sebastian's last adventure was the trip to the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan. He climbed to the Peak Korzhenevskaya which is 7105 m high and it took him 8 days. He was there at the same time (13th August) when the helicopter crash happened and three Russian climbers and two Tajik pilots died in the accident.

#20 Frankie J From England


Frankie J is one of the best house dancers on the planet. We have met before at Istanbul Street Dance Carnival. He was the judge for House Dance contest and I was a photographer there.

 

#21 Miljana From Serbia

Miljana is a tattoo artist. She was having holidays with her boyfriend.

#22 Lubna From Egypt


Lubna is a psytrance Dj from Egypt. She lives in Sharm el Sheikh.

#23 Luna From Chile


Luna had holidays with her friends in Kenya. She lives in Germany.

#24 Daria From Ukraine


Daria had a flight to China for the next model shooting.

#25 Ed From Kenya

Ed has both British & Kenya nationalities. He was waiting for his flight to Nairobi country.

#26 Anja From Slovenia


Anja is the third face from Slovenia and as you see Slovenians travel a lot! I’ll probably meet half of the country until the end of the project.

#27 Gerd From Denmark


Gerd denied my offer to participate in my project at first. But, she had enough time to think about it when she was in Niger! When she came back, she explained that she liked the way this project connects people from all over the world. We met again on her way back to Denmark and had enough time for a photoshoot and a conversation.

#28 Rahma From Tunisia


Rahma is a sports teacher. She was on the way to Romania.

#29 Paris From United States

Her full name is Paris London. What a beautiful name! She had lovely holidays in Greece and was heading home.

#30 Aldar From Russia


Aldar grew up in United Kingdom and still lives in London.

 

#31 Jacob From Sweden

Jacob is a medical student from Sweden. He was on the way to Sudan with a group of international students.

#32 Ilya From Russia

Ilya Varlamov is one of the most famous bloggers & reporters from Russia. He was preparing a video for his YouTube channel when we met. Thanks to Ilya, most of the project followers are from Russia.

#33 Florencia From Argentina


Florencia is a forensic anthropologist. She works for the Red Cross and her last destination was Georgia.

#34 Sadeem From Pakistan


Sadeem studies Global Development in the University of Copenhagen. He loves to play his guitar as a hobby.

#35 Martina From Austria


Thanks for spreading love Martina!

span style="color: #000000; font-size: 36px; font-weight: bold;">#36 Boubakar From Niger


Boubakar is the leader of the pilgrim group. I met him on his way back to Hajj.

#37 Mustapha From Morocco


Mustapha is a member of the band called Daraa Tribes. Their music is a fusion of the ancestral tribal music of the Draa Valley with the Sahara blues specific to the city of Tagounite (an oasis in the heart of the Moroccan dessert)

#38 Barkinado From Senegal

Barkinado is a Senegalese painter and he has an upcoming exhibition at France La Motte-Servolex.

#39 Simon Cheng From Taiwan


Photographer Simon Cheng was documenting the refugees in Slovenia. When we met, he was heading to Northern Irak where the refugees are coming from. Hope to meet him on his way back to hear his story!

#40 Sophie From France


Sophie plays her guitar as a hobby. When I met her, she was waiting for her flight to Lebanon. She has chosen a good destination to learn Arabic!

 

#41 Michele From Germany

Michele had a holiday in Phuket and was heading back to Berlin.

#42 Philip Chang From South Korea


Chang with his friend arrived to Sweden. We met on their way back to Seoul.

#43 Mr. Dheo From Portugal

We met with Mr. Dheo after my project was published on Portuguese newspaper. He was in Dubai and wrote me that he will transit via Istanbul. We made an appointment for the shooting session and had an excellent outcome.

#44 Takeshi From Japan


Takeshi is an architect and fashion designer from Japan. He designed his dress which was inspired by the Arabic dress called thawb.