Images and interview by Paolo Simi

I met Selale at a friend’s place in Berlin, where I was taking a little holiday. She’s just started modeling, has a two-year-old daughter and her touchstone is God. Selale has a beautiful mix of Turkish and German features, and from the very beginning she showed confidence and a strong point-of-view. I just thought she was amazing and wanted to get to know her a little bit better.

Paolo Simi: Where are you from?

Selale: I am from Berlin; I was born here but my family’s from Turkey—my mother from Antalya and my father from Izmir.

Paolo: What do you like about Berlin?

Selale: What I like about this city is that everything is possible, especially in Kreuzberg, the part of Berlin where I live. There are so many different people from many different “social-classes,” but it’s possible to live as neighbors—even if it’s not easy sometimes. I like the fact that people are so mixed up here. When you walk down the Oranienstrasse, you will find everything. There is always life on the streets; the city is alive. Yes, I love that. At same time, it’s also a very crazy city. You have to be strong if you want to resist.

Paolo: Do you drink a lot of beer, like everyone else in Berlin?

Selale: No, I don’t drink any alcohol. I don’t like the taste of it. I’ve tried it several times, but beer has always been something that I didn’t like.

Paolo: Is there anything you miss about Turkey?

Selale: I miss everything about Turkey, but most of all I miss the people. I hadn’t been to Turkey for almost 11 years, but I was there for 18 days and it was wonderful. I never thought that I had such a strong connection with my roots; I’ve always seen myself as a German—I live in Germany…I think in German… Everything about me is German. But when I got back to Turkey, I couldn’t believe [there was] such a great connection. I remembered the places. Immediately I started speaking better Turkish. I met my people, who I hadn’t seen for such a long time, and it was like I never left them.

Paolo: What is a typical day with your two-year-old daughter [Emylia]?

Selale: You know, the situation is not so easy now… Normally she gets up at 8am and her daddy brings her to kind of a day-nurse—in German you call her “Tagesmutter,” like a “day mother.” She’s there with four other children, and at 3pm Papa picks her up again.

Paolo: What’s special about having a daughter at the age of 21?

Selale: I think the question should be: What is special about having a daughter? Everything is special about being mother but being a young mother means also being a young grandmother, I hope.

Paolo: Can you tell us about your “complicated” relationship status?

Selale: I could write a book [about my relationship]. The only thing I can say is that I am looking for a flat because I am separating from my husband.

Paolo: What do you usually do at night? [Do you go to] clubs or bars?

Selale: During the week, I don’t do so much. I’ve started working at an cocktail bar [Molotow-Cocktail] as a waitress, so I have to work. On the weekends I often go to the KitKatClub. It’s a fetish club and it has its own club culture, a very special atmosphere. The thing I like there is that you can do whatever you want, wear what you want and be with whomever you want. Nobody cares; everybody’s there to enjoy his or herself or better, themselves. I go there because I can be free and nobody is nervous. No means no—everybody understands that.

Paolo: You’re a very religious girl, a Catholic one. How did you become Catholic, coming from an Orthodox Muslim family?

Selale: Oh, where should I start…? At 18 years old, I had my first direct contact with Jesus, through my best girlfriend Cathy. We where at a chill party and a friend of ours, Alex, told me: “I know a girl. She was a model and she’s about to come.” I always wanted to become a model, but God’s plan was different than mine. Anyway, I immediately had a super connection with Cathy. When I look back today, I can say Jesus was always with me. My favorite [television] series was Eine Himmlische Familie, in English, A Heavenly Family. It saved me because I saw people with faith, without any violence or pressure—totally different from my family. Later when I was 11, I went to a grammar school, where I met my spiritual mother. Her name was Maria, like our heavenly mother—what a fluke. She was teaching art. She became my mother and the granny of my daughter. When I became 16, I decided to move out because everything was too much for me; I got to know my husband and then I moved. At the beginning I had a hard time, but then with Maciano [my husband] it seemed to be working. The Lord came to save me through my husband. I believe that God appears through others. At least the Lord came to me in a time when I was nearly losing myself. I was taking lots of drugs and I couldn’t be mother anymore. I was the lost sheep. That one who Jesus is carrying over his shoulders.

Paolo: Can you explain how you practice your faith?

Selale: Without my faith, I would be nobody. Without my faith, I couldn’t forgive because I never got forgiveness [from my family]. I never knew that there was somebody who gave his life for all mankind, just because he loves us so much, just to save us. How cool. He is the best friend I could ever imagine, my homey. Practicing is praying, the rosary, attending mass and listening to the word of God—and always trying to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. The main thing is, he who is without sin casts the first stone.

Paolo:Is there anything you reject from Catholicism?

Selale: No, not really. I think real freedom is freedom in faith. Every river ends at the ocean. People who say something against others don’t understand the scriptures.

Paolo: Catholicism doesn’t accept gay relationships. How can you deal with that?

Selale: Everyone has his or her own relationship with God. God knows me and my heart and that’s why he will always understand me. I know that many religious people from many religions don’t accept that, but I’ve experienced something else. My priests didn’t say a word about my sexuality. They accept me like I am, like God would do. I don’t care what people say, I never did. Many people, even some of my friends, say, “How can you be really religious and have a life like this?” The answer is: Everybody has his own sins.