Yuri Kozyrev, co-founder of the Amsterdam NOOR agency for documentary photography is the author of the current exhibition hosted by the War Photo Ltd. Museum in Dubrovnik, Croatia. His living photographs tell the story of the recent conflicts in Egypt, Yemen, Lybia and Bahrain. The exhibition is open from August1 to October 28 2011.
Egypt revolution Yuri Kozyrev
War, you say, is an abomination; a barbarity; war must, be stopped at whatever cost. And we echo your words. War is an abomination; a barbarity; war must be stopped. Virginia Woolfe
Set in old town Dubrovnik, War Photo Limited has the mission to educate the public in the field of war photography and to expose the harsh reality of the people, who are not far from us. They want to let people see war as it is, raw, venal, frightening, by focusing on how war inflicts injustices on innocents and combatants alike. (Source)
The current exhibition depicts the happenings in Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Libya. Depicting incidents we have heard about on the news with some of them still going on, Yuri Kozyre’s photographs get you transposed into that world of revolution and uncertainity. It gets you thinking about what people can do to themselves and about what it would be like to be in their shoes. The vivid photographs, faces and the detailed descriptions of each photograph give you a taste of the bitterness of life in a revolutionary area.
As a photographer or photography passionate, it also gets you thinking about the actual photographing act under those circumstances. What would it be like to take photographs in a conflict area? Would you face it?
Egypt revolution Yuri Kozyrev
Much of the reportage on this world-changing wind has focused on the common threads that run across the region: the youthfulness of the revolutionaries, their clever use of social media websites and their embrace (for the most part) of nonviolent protest as a political tool.
But as I crisscrossed the region this spring, capturing images from Libya to Egypt to Bahrain, I was just as conscious of the differences I encountered: the rebels in Benghazi and the protesters in Bahrain may both be fighting tyranny, but their approach and aspirations are not the same.
I came to the conclusion that each revolution must be assessed in its own context, because each had a distinctive impact. The drama of each revolution unfolded separately. Each had its own heroes, its own crises. Each therefore demands its own narrative.
In the end, the differences between them may turn out to be more important than their similarities. (Yuri Kozyerv about the exhibition)
Libya revolution Yuri Kozyerv
On revolutionary road is a powerful exhibition everyone should see. It is open until 28 October at War Photo Limited in old town Dubrovnik.
