Mustafa, the new photobook by Turkish photographer Olgaç Bozalp, brings together a decade of photographs taken across fourteen countries in Southwest Asia and North Africa between 2016 and 2026. Published by Guest Editions, the book is both a photographic journey and a personal exploration of cultural identity, belonging, and the rediscovery of one’s roots. The title comes from Bozalp’s middle name, Mustafa, inherited from his grandfather. Growing up in Konya, Turkey, he rarely used it, finding it old-fashioned and too closely associated with religious traditions. Years later, while travelling through predominantly Muslim countries, he began introducing himself as Mustafa rather than Olgaç. The change was surprisingly significant. His new name was familiar to the people he met, making conversations easier and creating an immediate sense of connection. What had once felt like an uncomfortable part of his identity gradually became a source of belonging.

This experience lies at the heart of the book. Through portraits, landscapes, and scenes of everyday life, Bozalp documents the people and places he encountered while reconsidering his own relationship with the culture he had grown up in. His photographs move between spontaneous observations and carefully composed scenes, capturing gestures, colours, and unexpected details that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Having spent much of his adult life outside Turkey, Bozalp had increasingly felt disconnected from his origins. Travelling through countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman, and Palestine brought back familiar memories and experiences, allowing him to recognise aspects of his upbringing in places far from home. Photography became a way of reconnecting not only with others but also with parts of himself he had previously overlooked or rejected. At the same time, Mustafa challenges the narrow representations of Southwest Asia and North Africa often found in Western visual culture. Rather than focusing on familiar stereotypes, Bozalp approaches his subjects with curiosity, humour, and an appreciation of individuality. His background in fashion photography is evident in his attention to colour, composition, and the relationship between people and their surroundings, while his documentary approach gives the images a sense of intimacy and spontaneity.

Ultimately, Mustafa is as much about the photographer as it is about the places he visited. What began as a series of journeys across different countries developed into a decade-long process of self-discovery, in which a once-rejected name became a symbol of cultural connection and personal acceptance.

Published by Guest Editions and designed by Tom Booth Woodger, the book includes 138 colour photographs and an essay by Dalia Al-Dujaili.