[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on photography in and of the region and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Photography Page Editor or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each month’s roundup to photos@jadaliyya.com.]
History, Theory, and Criticism
Seeing the truth: Azadeh Akhlaghi’s As an Eyewitness Mada Masr discusses the work of Azadeh Akhlaghi, the Iranian artist who creates cinematic-like photographs of tragic events in Iran based on research combined with testimonies of witnesses, those who resisted the oppression of Pahlavi Shahs.
Iraq
Documenting the Genocide of Iraq’s Yazidis The New York Times Lens blog takes a look at the work of Diego Ibarra Sanchez, a photographer with the Spanish photo collective MeMo, documenting the Yazidi community and the genocide they suffered.
Vying for match points near Mosul battleground Al Jazeera In Pictures presents a photo essay by Alessandro Rota about a tennis club just a few kilometers outside Mosul continuing practice despite the fighting.
Fleeing Mosul Time Lightbox takes a look at the work of five photographers - Maria Turchenkova, Laurent Van der Stockt, Jan Grarup, Ivor Prickett, and Emin Ozmen - and how they have been documenting Iraqis displaced by fighting in Mosul.
Turkey
Three Photographers Witnessed an Assassination. One Photo Went Viral Time Lightbox discusses the photos captured by three different photographers of the assassination Russia’s ambassador to Turkey and reasons why photojournalist Yavuz Alata’s photo went viral.
Young refugees in Turkey learn circus skills Al Jazeera In Pictures takes a look at Didem Tali’s photo story about refugee children in Mardin. Due to the linguistic barriers to education for these Syrian children, they instead attend a circus school to keep themselves stimulated.
Lebanon
A life in flux for Lebanon’s Dom community Al Jazeera In Pictures takes a look at the lives of the Dom, a marginalized community with origins that go back to India who mostly live in extreme poverty, photographs by Celia Peterson.
Syria
Ghosts of Aleppo Al Jazeera In Pictures presents black and white photographs by Mauricio Morales of the harsh conditions for those living in Aleppo the past five years.
Egypt
They Usually Lie Around the Grotto Mada Masr Panorama reviews a book and exhibit of photographs by Bryony Dunne from her project “Seeds from the Zoo,” exploring the Giza Zoo near the Nile River in Cairo.
2016 Shawkan photography competition shortlist Mada Masr Panorama looks at the finalists in the photojournalism category of the Shawkan photography contest, a competition seeking to draw attention to the jailed photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid.
A Photo Mada Masr Panorama presents new work by photographer Yasser Alwan.
Iran
Inside Iran’s ‘Silcon Valley’ Al Jazeera In Pictures presents a photo story by Linda Dorigo looking at the young, entrepreneurial Iranians taking advantage of mobile technology, gaining work experience in California’s Silicon Valley, and using that knowledge for tech startups in Tehran.
The MENA Region
A diary of the Middle East in the 1930s Washington Post In Sight takes a look at historic photos of Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon by John D. Whiting, a businessman, photographer, and member of the American Colony in Jerusalem who kept a visual diary.