An exhibition is showcasing harrowing pictures of the continuing war between ISIS and the Kurds taken by a Nottingham photographer.
Gaylan Nazhad is a Nottingham-based British-Kurdish documentary filmmaker and photographer born in Sulaimani, Kurdistan and has taken photos from the war’s frontline, refugee camps and detention centres.
The photos were captured over a two-year period with 11 currently being exhibited at City Arts showing the daily existence of those affected by war.
The ones chosen include photos of children and families living lives dictated by conflict.
Gaylan said: “These photos represent the uncertainty and violence of the conflict between Islamic State and the Kurds.
“They express the flux of war and its consequences for the psychological, physical and metaphysical landscape of Kurdistan and its people.”
Gaylan has previously worked as a TV presenter for an Iraqi-Kurdish news station and after studying theatre directing at Sulaimani Institute of Fine Arts, he moved to the UK and started to direct documentaries.
The photographs are from Gaylan’s new book, 101 Beads: Kurdistan in War which is launched at City Arts on June 16.
City Arts is hosting the exhibition as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations which runs from now until July 4 and can be seen in the window of the building.
Gaylan worked for the Nottingham-based arts charity between 2008 and 2011.
City Arts say he played a ‘key role’ in the Artists in Exile project which helped refugee artists in Nottingham to re-establish careers in their adopted city.
