The Middle Distance: Where East Meets West

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Getting ready for a wedding party. Istanbul, Turkey. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Ozge on the phone to her mother, she recently bought her own flat and lives on her own. Istanbul, Turkey. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance A woman lies on the table in the dinning room of the women's prison. Tbilisi, Georgia. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Two wives bedrooms in a polygamous family. Van, Turkey. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Songul teaching at a village school just outside Van city. She has to remove her headscarf while she is at the school although she does normally wear it. Van, Turkey. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Across the road from a cafe, a woman covers her hair with her curtain as she looks down the street. Istanbul, Turkey. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Behiye says goodbye to her family as she leaves home on her wedding day. Istanbul, Turkey. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Girls who have dropped out of school because they refuse to remove their headscarves, as Turkey's constitution says that they must. Istanbul, Turkey. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Songul is a teacher working in the town of Van in the east of Turkey. She left her hometown of Bitlis to go to university in the city a few years earlier. she says she always knew she had to get aw (...)

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Katie is a design student in Tbilisi and comes home to her family in the village on weekend. Mejvreskevi, Georgia. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance A bride gets a tattoo of her new husband's name on her wedding day. Istanbul, Turkey. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Ozge and Filiz, two middle-class Turkish girls, go to the hamam on the weekend to relax. Istanbul, Turkey. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Inmates at the women's prison pose in their dormitory. Tbilisi, Georgia 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Early hours at Crystal nightclub. Istanbul, Turkey. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance A photographers bench. Baku, Azerbaijan. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Jenna, a design student from the Ural State University, at home in the apartment she has recently inherited from her grandmother. Yekaterinburg, Russia, 2007. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Government housing blocks. Tbilisi, Georgia. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur | The Middle Distance Sevinj is 25 years old and a keyhole surgeon. Baku, Azerbaijan. 2006. © Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos