A KALTBLUT exclusive. Photography by Ada Diren Kurt. The model is Zuzanna Staniaszek. Fashion editor is Büşra Kahveci. Makeup by Arzu Sezer. Hair by Valbona Shaban. Fashion by Sudietuz, Sugur, Nu, Weida, My Best Friends, Penti and Metiers.
The same music starts. The lights come on. She becomes the same character again. Glamorous, powerful, almost larger than life. She owns the stage as if it were hers. Her energy feels almost unreal.
She creates this woman herself. She does her own hair and makeup before every show. Certain colours, certain shapes, and a certain world always belong to the character. The character stays the same, but her face never really does.
Every night, she changes something.
Sometimes it is the shape of the eyes. Sometimes the colour is slightly different. Sometimes it is just a small detail that nobody would notice. The character is still there. The music is the same. The story is the same.
Even someone watching the show for the second time might not notice it at first. Maybe this is her own little game. She has to tell the same story every night, so she finds a way to make it different for herself. A small change inside something that is otherwise repeated over and over again.
The audience sees the character.
She sees all the versions of herself inside it.
Then the music stops.
The lights go off.
The show is over.
And she takes off her wig.
With the wig comes the character. The makeup starts to disappear. The woman who was full of energy a few minutes ago slowly disappears with it.
What is left when the performance is gone?
Behind all the glamour, she is going through a darker time in her life. She gives everything to the stage every night, even when she does not feel the same energy inside herself. She has to look bright, confident and alive, while something in her is slowly moving in the opposite direction.
Maybe this is why she keeps changing her makeup. At first, it is just something fun. A way to keep herself interested in a role she plays every day. But slowly, the changes begin to mean something else.
The line between the character and the woman becomes harder to see. The more she transforms into this person, the more she starts to question who she is when the character is gone.
The darkness is never really shown. It stays underneath the glitter, somewhere between the colours, behind the light and all the energy of the stage.
Because maybe darkness does not always look dark.
Sometimes it is hidden inside everything that shines.
And every night, when she steps back onto the stage, she is not the same woman.
Maybe she is trying to find herself somewhere between all the different versions of the character.
Or maybe, by the time the wig comes off, she is no longer sure which one was ever really her.
Photographer: Ada Diren Kurt @adadirenkurt
Fashion Editor: Büşra Kahveci @gunzebusra
Makeup: Arzu Sezer @arzusezer
Hair: Valbona Shaban @valbona.shaban
Model: Zuzanna Staniaszek @zuzannasstaniaszek
Model Agency: True Models Istanbul @truemodelsistanbul
Photographer Assistant: Neslihan Akkaya @puulhpie
Stylist Assistant: Ece Eti @ece.eti
Fashion
All Brands Featured: Sudietuz @sudietuzofficial Sugur @sugurjewelry Nu @nuofficial Weida @weida.jewelry My Best Friends @mybestfriendstr Penti @penti Metiers @metiers_
