National Geographic was kind enough to send me a review copy of REZA WAR + PEACE, a large format 30-year retrospective of the work of the award-winning photojournalist and humanitarian Reza. As their site states, he has “devoted his life to bearing witness through his camera to the struggles and hopes of oppressed people around the world…this remarkable photographer chronicles his travels to places of conflict through exquisite images that pair turmoil with hope, joy with despair.” I would have to agree. The book is full of moving images from the Middle East, Africa and other places in conflict. It is certainly a page turner in the best sense of the word, except that you also want to go slowly to absorb each image.
The introduction is written by the novelist, Sebastian Junger. Sebastian writes about the experience he shared with Reza in northern Afghanistan in 2000. They were in the middle of conflict, traveling with Ahmad Massoud, an anti-Taliban leader. He writes about the depth of Reza’s connection to those he photographs and his unwillingness to back these people more abstract as a psychological self-defense. As a result his pictures achieve a greater emotional depth as well as a more profound artistic accomplishment.
The book site writes that “Reza’s journey has taken him from his native Iran, where he was jailed and tortured because of his photography, to dozens of countries gripped by turmoil — from Kurdistan to Egypt, Lebanon to Turkey, China to Israel, Somalia to South Africa. Through his lens, which captures not just conflict, but friendship, loyalty, family life and love, he takes us to such regions as northern Pakistan, where cultural shock and mutual incomprehension are deepening the gap between the American military and people in the tribal zones; Libya, a country making strides in economic and social well-being, but not in basic freedoms; Saudi Arabia, ruled by oil-rich princes whose opulent lives are in stark contrast to those of the “guest workers” who serve them; and Afghanistan, whose land and people have deeply touched Reza, helping him find his way in the labyrinth of his own nomadic life.”
There are portraits of leaders such as Yassar Arafat, Benazir Bhutto and Indira Gandhi. I was especially moved by the images of Benazir Bhutto, given her fate. The vast majority of pictures are of unnamed and unknown people who serve as representatives of their fellow country men and women, boys and girls, and even animals. The latter comes through clearly in a picture of boy and his large white horse in Turkmenistan. Here the horse captures the boys attention while the horse looks into the camera to hold ours. There are pictures of joy like two smiling girls dancing in front of what looks like a distant explosion in Turkmenistan and a boy playing with a balloon in Turkey. There are many pictures of people looking directly and intently into the camera who convey a sense of connection with the photographer that can extend through him to the reader. There are also many pictures of the tragedy that conflict brings. Reza provides the context in narratives on many of the pictures. This is a moving book that I highly recommend.
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