Whenever photographer Olgaç Bozalp said goodbye after a trip home to visit his family in Konya, Turkey, his aunt and grandmother would slip themselves in front of the window’s lace curtain to watch him leave.
This poignant image is memorialised in Home, Leaving One For Another, Bozalp’s series that is now both a solo show at 10 14 Gallery and a book published by Void. Bozalp’s cultural identity remains a focal point as he approaches emotive themes of migration and its paradoxes, born from his own journey as a migrant.
From Home, Leaving One For Another, by Olgaç Bozalp
The series initially stemmed from a desire to confront the complex question of why someone leaves one place for another. ‘I started this series because I wanted to understand why one person wants to leave and be somewhere else,’ says the photographer. Bozalp then found himself in such a nomadic situation for four years, constantly travelling or staying with others.
The resulting Home, Leaving One For Another comprises documentary images interwoven with staged scenes.
From Home, Leaving One For Another, by Olgaç Bozalp
Together, the works create a striking visual narrative in which Bozalp opens up discussions about forced migration, fleeing dangerous communities and opportunities for migrants. The flowing image compositions echo the theme of movement; as viewers, we are left questioning whether these are moments of arrival, departure, relief or regret.
Particularly powerful are Bozalp’s written memories that bookend the monograph; in a few short sentences, he opens up about his fond childhood moments, unfulfilled expectations and cultural dynamics. As Bozalp explains, the book and exhibition are ‘a culmination of four years of my memories, my observations, my personal experiences and I wanted to share that’.
From Home, Leaving One For Another, by Olgaç Bozalp
From Home, Leaving One For Another, by Olgaç Bozalp
From Home, Leaving One For Another, by Olgaç Bozalp
From Home, Leaving One For Another, by Olgaç Bozalp
Olgaç Bozalp, ‘Home, Leaving One for Another’ is on view at 10 14 Gallery, 10-14 Crossway, London, N16 8HX, until 10 March 2023. instagram.com/1014.gallery
Bozalp's monograph Home: Leaving One for Another, is published by Void.
-
Highlights from the transporting Cruise 2026 showsThe Cruise 2026 season began yesterday with a Chanel show at Lake Como, heralding the start of a series of jet-setting, destination runway shows from fashion’s biggest houses
-
Behind the design of national pavilions in Venice: three studios to knowDesigning the British, Swiss and Mexican national pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 are three outstanding studios to know before you go
-
Premium patisserie Naya is Mayfair’s latest sweet spotHeritage meets opulence at Naya bakery in Mayfair, London. With interiors by India Hicks and Anna Goulandris, the patisserie looks good enough to eat
-
The UK AIDS Memorial Quilt will be shown at Tate ModernThe 42-panel quilt, which commemorates those affected by HIV and AIDS, will be displayed in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in June 2025
-
‘Humour is foundational’: artist Ella Kruglyanskaya on painting as a ‘highly questionable’ pursuitElla Kruglyanskaya’s exhibition, ‘Shadows’ at Thomas Dane Gallery, is the first in a series of three this year, with openings in Basel and New York to follow
-
Artist Qualeasha Wood explores the digital glitch to weave stories of the Black female experienceIn ‘Malware’, her new London exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, the American artist’s tapestries, tuftings and videos delve into the world of internet malfunction
-
Ed Atkins confronts death at Tate BritainIn his new London exhibition, the artist prods at the limits of existence through digital and physical works, including a film starring Toby Jones
-
Tom Wesselmann’s 'Up Close' and the anatomy of desireIn a new exhibition currently on show at Almine Rech in London, Tom Wesselmann challenges the limits of figurative painting
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next yearTate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
-
A portrait of the artist: Sotheby’s puts Grayson Perry in the spotlightFor more than a decade, photographer Richard Ansett has made Grayson Perry his muse. Now Sotheby’s is staging a selling exhibition of their work
-
Celia Paul's colony of ghostly apparitions haunts Victoria MiroEerie and elegiac new London exhibition ‘Celia Paul: Colony of Ghosts’ is on show at Victoria Miro until 17 April
