Hayal & Hakikat: A Handbook of Forgiveness & A Handbook of Punishment reworks historical photographs of prisoners’ hands from the albums of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II. Edited by Cemre Yeşil Gönenli, the book draws on the Yıldız Palace archive; the original photographers are not individually identified in the available publication credits.

The images were connected to a pseudo-scientific idea the Sultan encountered in a crime novel: that the relative length of finger joints could indicate a tendency to murder. Hands were photographed for classification. According to the publisher, the individual prisoners’ subsequent fates remain unknown because there is no record of the Sultan’s verdict after viewing the photographs. The material raises questions about photography’s use as evidence and the authority invested in systems of classification.

Published in 2020 by GOST Books in co-edition with FiLBooks, the volume uses a Ziczac hardcover construction with three book blocks totalling 240 pages. It includes an essay by Refik Akyüz translated by Orhan Cem Çetin. Gönenli’s role is editorial and artistic; the historical images should not be attributed to her as their original photographer.

The book won the International category of the PHotoESPAÑA 2021 Awards. It was also longlisted for the 2021 Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards and shortlisted for the 2021 Rencontres d’Arles Book Awards in the Historical category and the 2020 Aperture Paris PhotoBook Awards.