“There’s also another side to war. Those doing the fighting also have to wait, often for many days or weeks, behind the front, before anything happens. Then, later, when the guns fall silent, there’s the strange immobility of the ruins. War is also these moments and these places, away from the noise of battle, where the fighting has stopped, or not yet begun. This is the world Maryam Ashrafihas found herself bearing witness to since first travelling to Kurdistan in 2012,an intermediary world, somewhere between life and death, a space that has pervaded the territory since the beginning of the confrontation between the Kurdish forces and Islamic State in 2014. Through the lens of her camera, she tells the story of communities shaped by the continual presence of guns, damaged by war but nevertheless forging a new collective existence. Alongside the Kurdish women soldiers, the photographer thus also tells the story of the transformation of the condition of women that the Kurdish movement has given rise to thanks to the unprecedented situations brought about by the Syrian civil war. ” Allan Kaval
You can order the book in English or French here
The book has won the Prixhip 2021 & Lucie photobook prize 2022
Read more:
Maryam Ashrafi : une photographe très engagée par Alain Mingam
Maryam Ashrafi : a very committed photographer by Alain Mingam
PHOTOBOOK. 400 photos honouring Kurdish women’s liberation struggle
LIVRE. 400 photos mettant à l’honneur la lutte de libération des femmes kurdes
کتاب «برخاستن از میان ویرانه ها، رقصیدن میان گلولهها» حکایت تصویری سال ها جنگ و مبارزه مردم کُردستان در عراق و سوریه منتشر خواهد شد