Kawergosk Refugee Camp, Iraq

Photographer: Reza Visual Academy

Year of Submission: 2016 (Educators Edition) 

At the Kawergosk refugee camp, near the city of Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan, Reza runs a photography workshop for Syrian children displaced by war in their home country. Seventeen of them, aged ten to fifteen, are taking part. Using cameras provided by Reza, an Iranian- French photographer of Azerbaijani origin, they are learning how to become reporters, taking pictures and sharing their experiences with people in other parts of the world. The point, says Reza, is not to teach the techniques of photography, but to show how a camera can reveal one’s vision to others. The project is one of many he has run over the last three-plus decades for young people and women living in or from conflict-ridden societies through his Reza Visual Academy.