My name is Serbest Salih and I am a 26- year-old photographer from Kobane, Syria. I am currently living in the southeast of Turkey, where millions of Syrian refugees are resettled. I am the director of Sirkhane DARKROOM a photography school currently active in Mardin Istasyon, an impoverished neighborhood near the city of Mardin and in the city of Nusaybin, a beautiful city affected by war and violence.

DARKROOM is a photography school for vulnerable children of Syrian, Kurdish, Iraqi and Turkish origin under the organization Sirkhane Social Circus School. In DARKROOM, children learn how to take meaningful photos, develop analog photos and print them. They learn how to create beauty and joy out of darkness of their past and present.

Photography as a pedagogic method, enables children to first of all know themselves better. It is an incredible and effective method of teaching children coming from difficult conditions, new ways of thinking, creativity, and being playful while expanding their perspective of their surroundings.

In the course of learning this art, the classes enable them to develop life skills such as social skills, adopting universal values to themselves, and to their art, improving physical coordination and concentration. Also, the art of photography enables children to develop a healthy personality and gives them a tool, to express themselves in the most meaningful way in order to be productive members of their society.

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Photography equipment, materials, and printing are expensive and we are always in need of equipment for our school, the list of which includes the following;

  1. Enlarger Timer
  2. 18×24 cm. Tub , 1 QTY of  50×60 cm. Tub
  3. Tongs (Negative holder and Clevis)
  4. Measure /graduate
  5. Measuring Cylinder
  6. Tank
  7. Spiral
  8. Alarm Clock
  9. White Bulb
  10. Red Bulb
  11. Water Heater (Heifer Gourmet brand)
  12. Fixer 5 Lt.
  13. Developer 5Lt
  14. Compact Camera with flash and mechanical setup Canon BF 10 Date
  15. 35mm B/W Photographic film
  16. Magnifier
  17. Enlarger
  18. Canon 900F Mark II film scanner
  19.  100 EA Archive bag, Parchment
  20. Box File
  21.  30×40, EA Photo Card
  22.  ilford 18×24 , 100 EA Photo Card
  23.  Kodak D76
  24. Pictured Magazines
  25.  Wet surface
  26. Dry surface
  27. Shelfs
  28. 120mm B/W Photographic film
  29. Hypo Clear
  30. Film Picker
  31. Photo  frame cuter
  32. Contact print

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