Sabiha Çimen
Illustration — Sabiha Çimen Sabiha Çimen (born 1986) is a Turkish photographer. Her series Hafiz, about girls at Quran schools in Turkey, was shown in a solo exhibition at Kunsthal, Rotterdam. For Hafiz, Çimen received a W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Grant, 2nd Prize in the Long-Term Projects category of the World Press Photo award, and the First Photobook Award at the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards.
Sabiha Çimen
Lapplipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1986 · Istanbul.
- Nationality
- Turkey
- Occupation
- photographer · photojournalist · cultural studies scholar
- Education
- Istanbul Bilgi University
- Honours
- Canon Female Photojournalist Grant · Eugene Smith Award · Guggenheim Fellowship
- Languages
- Turkish
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Illustration — Sabiha Çimen Sabiha Çimen (born 1986) is a Turkish photographer. Her series Hafiz, about girls at Quran schools in Turkey, was shown in a solo exhibition at Kunsthal, Rotterdam. For Hafiz, Çimen received a W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Grant, 2nd Prize in the Long-Term Projects category of the World Press Photo award, and the First Photobook Award at the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Sabiha Çimen. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q98214261 · wikipedia · Sabiha Çimen
In this article
Early life and education
Early life and education
Çimen was born in Istanbul to an ethnically Kurdish Persian family. She graduated from Istanbul Bilgi University with an undergraduate degree in international trade and finance, and a master's degree in cultural studies. Her master's thesis on subaltern studies, which includes her photo story "Turkey as a Simulated Country", was published in 2019. She is a self-taught photographer.
Life and work
Life and work
Çimen's book Hafiz: Guardians of the Qur'an (2021) shows the daily lives of students at girls-only Hafiz schools throughout Turkey. "Hafiz" means "guardian" and refers to people who memorize the Quran. Çimen spent 3 years herself studying in such a school, where she returned to in 2017 to begin making this autobiographical work. She went on to photograph Quran schools elsewhere until 2021. Çimen became a Magnum Photos Nominee member in 2020.
Personal life
Personal life
Çimen has a twin sister.
Solo exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
• Hafiz, Visa pour l'Image, Perpignan, France, 2022 • Sabiha Çimen: Hafiz, Kunsthal, Rotterdam, Netherlands, January–May 2023
Group exhibitions
Group exhibitions
• Close Enough: New Perspectives from 12 Women Photographers of Magnum, International Center of Photography, New York, September 2022 – January 2023, included Çimen's Hafiz
Identity
Identity
Sabiha Çimen is recorded with the occupation cultural studies scholar. Recorded as having received Canon Female Photojournalist Grant, Eugene Smith Award and Guggenheim Fellowship. Çimen received Canon Female Photojournalist Grant, Eugene Smith Award and Guggenheim Fellowship.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1986
Sabiha Çimen was born on 1 January 1986.
Publications
• Turkey as a Simulated Country. Cambridge Scholars, 2019.. • Hafiz: Guardians of the Qur'an. Red Hook, 2021.. Edition of 2000 copies.
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q98214261: Sabiha Çimen
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Sabiha Çimen”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Awards
• 2018: 3rd Prize, PHmuseum Women Photographer Grant • 2020: W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Grant Recipient. One of five co-winners. • 2020: 2nd Prize, Long-Term Projects category, World Press Photo for Hafız • 2020: Canon Female Photojournalist Grant, for Hafiz. An €8,000 award. • 2022: Winner, First Photobook Award, Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards for Hafiz
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Photography
11,392 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- S.R. KottegodaPhotographer
- Saab MagalonaPhotographer
- Saana WangPhotographer
- Sabelo MlangeniPhotographer
- Sabina MuchartPhotographer
- Sabine PigallePhotographer
- Sabine WeissPhotographer
- Sabrina DraouiPhotographer
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Sabiha Çimen?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.