Artist
Younes Mohammad
Younes Mohammad is Born in 1968 in Dohuk, Iraq. He’s a Kurdish freelance photographer mostly active on assignments for newspapers, magazines, etc.
He spent his life in Iran as a refugee from 1974 - 1998 and graduated with an MBA University of Tehran. Photography was his passion but he had no chance to follow it while the war situation was still continuing Under Saddam’s time.
In 2011 he quits his job and starts his journey as a photographer. His work has been exhibited internationally and published widely in publications.
Open Wounds
"I start to work on a long-term project documenting the sacrifices of Kurdish Peshmerga in the fight to put down ISIS."
The project has taken me to the provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan. Speaking with several hundred Peshmerga, taking intimate portraits of the wounded fighters, their families, and documenting both the stories in the battle and their ongoing struggles to navigate post-conflict life. Through the work, I found stories of immense suffering. Fighters who took up arms, not because they were required to do so, but because it was right and it was what had to be done. These men, often fighting side by side with brothers, uncles, cousins, fathers, and sons, knew that the freedom and survival of their people were at stake.
As they retold stories of watching family and friends killed in front of them and of battles they did not expect to survive, they simultaneously shed tears for the losses and for the pride they had in what their comrades and they had done.
All most all of the men showed severe physical injury. Arms, legs, and eyes lost. Bodies so riddled with bullet and shrapnel wounds that simple movement created wincing pain. These men also showed the signs of the heavy burdens of the mental traumas, of PTSD, and of memories that would not leave them. Despite all they suffered, they often said they would go back to the fight again if ever called. They would do this for their children, their families, their people, and for the wider world.
Tragically, their suffering does not end having returned home. The men face new challenges, such as getting prosthetic limbs, ongoing care, providing for their families despite their debilitating injuries, and more. They wonder, if they would give everything to help protect the world, will the world help them or forget them now that have put down their guns.
Younes have hope that, through this work exploring conflict and post-conflict humanitarian issues, the World may better understand what these men and their families have given for the Kurdish people, the region, and, in fact, the world.
Within this project, we have been selecting every year a number of 5 artists to represent what we believed to be interesting and worthy in photography at that moment. This year, we have decided upon new names from different countries: Dirk Hardy, John Robokos, Pascual Rosales, Sara Meinz, and Younes Mohammad. Their work has been carefully analysed and selected during an online portfolio review judged by international curators, to represent Photo Romania in Futures 2021.
Dirk Hardy is a photographer that shows a strong understanding of how to develop and present projects. Although a young artist, he understands how to build a
project and to visually present it to the audience. We particularly liked his Void project, which has been featured several times in international events, including an exhibition in Romania.
John Robokos is a Greek artist specialised in instant street photography. We chose his work because he attempts and succeeds in capturing beauty in dark and
depressing urban landscapes.
Pascual Rosales is a Spanish photographer focused on using visual storytelling about the stories that each of us can carry inside. His project Salt eats stone is a story about the people and the places consumed by time, where salt is the substitute for the passage of time.
Sara Meinz is another Spanish photographer whose work strives for documentary and portraiture. Through her work, she seeks the hidden messages of ordinary life, often exploring society, the human-made landscape, and nature’s resilience.
Younes Mohammad is a Kurdish freelance photographer working and telling the stories of the people that live in his country. Younes hopes that, through this work of exploring conflict and post-conflict humanitarian issues, the world may better understand what these people and their families have given for the Kurdish people, the region, and, in fact, for the world.