Photography
All topics-
Al-Halqa in Marrakesh
Morocco's last storytellers
The art of storytelling has always been part of Arab culture. Yet it is a tradition with an uncertain future. Filmmaker Thomas Ladenburger's exploration of the world of Moroccan storytellers provides a fascinating insight into the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. By Melanie Christina Mohr
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The Israeli Press Photography Prize
″Local Testimony″
Every autumn, when the World Press Photo Award comes to Tel Aviv, some of the best press photographs by photojournalists from Israel and the Palestinian territories are chosen for display in the exhibition's "Local Testimony" section. Felix Koltermann reports from the Eretz Israel Museum
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Muslims of Central Asia by Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii ca. 1910
Between 1909 and 1912, photographer Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii was commissioned to conduct a photographic survey of the Russian Empire by Tsar Nicholas II. Using a special camera he captured three black and white images in fairly quick succession, using red, green and blue filters. These were later overlaid and projected with filtered lanterns to show near true colour images. These photographs pre-date both the Russian Revolution and the First World War. Take a step back in time and see what life was like for Muslims more than a century ago with these photos made available by the Library of Congress, which purchased the original glass plates back in 1948.
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Interview with the German-Afghan photographer Lela Ahmadzai
The undaunted women of Kabul
In her latest photo series, German-Afghan photographer and multimedia journalist Lela Ahmadzai documents the life of four Afghan women who are intent on leading self-determined lives, despite the social pressure to conform. An interview by Felix Koltermann
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Photography in the Arab world
Casting the veil in a new light
Having spent three years in Saudi Arabia, English-born photographer Sebastian Farmborough felt he had to do something to counter the country's negative image in the West. He talks to Kate Muser about the project
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Art from Iraq and the Armenian diaspora in Venice
A far cry from what we′ve seen before
While in the mass media, the war of images with and over Islamic State is making headlines, very little attention has been paid to the visual art being created in the region. To get an idea of the diversity of artistic production in the Arab world and the Middle East, head to this year′s international Venice Biennale. Felix Koltermann was in the city on the lagoon, and introduces the most exciting national contributions and artistic installations from the region
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Exhibition: Political Art and Resistance in Turkey
The art of remembering
Protest art from Turkey, covering the period from the 1970s to the present day, is currently on show at the Neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst or nGbK (New Society for Visual Arts) in Berlin. But this exhibition is a little bit different in that it does not concern itself only with political resistance in Istanbul, but also with social protest in eastern Turkey. Ceyda Nurtsch took a look at the art on display and talked to the artists and the organisers
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Kai Wiedenhofer's photo project "Forty out of one million"
Giving victims a face and a voice
Berlin photographer Kai Wiedenhofer is perhaps best known for the many years he has spent documenting the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He has recently initiated a new photo project: "Forty out of one million" focuses on the fate of refugees who have fled the Syrian war. Felix Koltermann spoke to him about his work
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The image policy of IS
Terror in the spotlight
In this essay, Felix Koltermann takes a closer look at the image policy of IS and how media and politicians around the world have reacted to it. He argues that in spite of the horror of the images being disseminated by IS, it is important not to fall into the rhetoric of a war of images, because the goal of such a rhetoric is to take pictorial acts as a justification for military action
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Photo project "This Place"
A missed opportunity
Twelve international photographers set out to explore Israel and the West Bank through the lenses of their cameras for the photo project "This Place". The aim was to see Israel as a metaphor and to go beyond the stereotypes. According to Felix Koltermann, however, the project makes no more than a marginal contribution to a more profound engagement with the reality of the region
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Photography: Ara Güler retrospective
The man who photographed Istanbul
The exhibition "Ara Güler: Photographs 1950–2005" at the Willi Brandt House in Berlin runs until 1 February 2015. The focus of the exhibition is the Turkish metropolis Istanbul, a city that Güler has spent his entire life documenting. Felix Koltermann visited the retrospective
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Book review: Christoph Bangert's "War Porn"
We must not look away
The simple, unassuming cover of this book belies its explosive content: in his latest photobook, "War Porn", photojournalist Christoph Bangert shows the true, ugly face of conflict in all its horror. He presents the reader with an unfiltered selection of images from his photographic archive, documenting the brutality of war, predominantly in the Arab world. By Felix Koltermann