Ekaterina Anchevskaya

A.H., his fiance and her mother in a window reflection.

Kilis, Turkish town in 5 km from the Syrian boarder where A.H.’s fiance lives with her family. That day the wind was coming from Syria and the whole town was covered in yellowish fog.

On the way to Kilils, for the engagement party of A.H. 20 houts bus from Izmir to Kilis.

A.H. fiance playig with her brother. Kilis

Kilis. One of the Syrian families, friends of A.H. and his fiance. They live in a garage block with a heater in the middle of the room. One of daughetrs is getting asylum in Netherlands.

Sarah, a six-year-old Syrian refugee in Turkey. When I met Sarah in the Çankaya area of Izmir, the entire street was dark because of electricity failure. Sarah and her sister, Fatima, lit the room with mobile phones while telling their story. After

A.H. fiance and her friend going home after doing shopping for th engagement. Kilis

Izmir. A.H. doing reconstruction of the new flat he will live with his fiance.

Izmir, on the coast of Aegean Sea where refugees start their journey to Greece, Europe.

Where do we go next, habibi?

On-going story following life of a Syrian refugee who now lives in Turkey and has become a part of smuggling process of the refugees to Europe. A.H. does it because he wants to help people, because ‘ Syrians don’t deserve what is happening to them now’. Story shows a person who has experienced the war, had to fight for his new life, break the law and still being a human. It is his intimate life, his interaction with refugees, friends and his fiance.

A.H. is always on the move, sometimes to meet his love, sometimes in search of freedom for himself and for the others. His phone is always ringing. People are asking for his help, those who are left out by the society and government, who fled the war and want to keep pushing for their life. A.H. is doing his best to help them by going against the law and at the same time earning his own living to maintain the house and his future family.

The first part of the story took place in Izmir and Kilis where A.H. got engaged. It will be continued in summer to follow a family being smuggled to Greece and A.H. wedding.

Ekaterina Anchevskaya

Ekaterina Anchevskaya, documentary photographer and filmmaker originally from Moscow, Russia. Ekaterina has background in Journalism and Languages (English and Spanish) and works on long-term stories mostly based in Eastern Europe. In 2015 she was awarded Royal Photographic Society Bursary for an on-going story about the Black Sea and currently Ekaterina is a part of Getty Reportage Emerging Talent showcase. Based between London and Moscow, she is planning to move to Turkey to continue working on the story ‘ Where do we go next, habibi?