H A M A M

By Helene Moor   Photography:Yaren Göğebakan

“I’ve been working in hamams for thirty years. My family was in this line of work, and that’s how I ended up here, too. At first I didn’t know what I had to do, but the other women helped me. Now I help the new ones myself. That’s how it’s done in hamams: one teaches the other”.

The women at the Galatasaray Hamami who agreed to talk to us are sitting round the small room provided as a restroom for them. They are reserved. They don’t want to be photographed, they don’t want a tape recorder. After each question they look at one another, as if unsure of what to say. The situation changes as soon as the hamam manager appears: a tall, handsome woman with a calm manner. Yesin gives her consent. For the group interview and photograph we go out in the yard, where it is cooler, and tongues soon loosen up.