MEI is a photo agency that curates narratives of the Middle East from photographers who work on the ground and think globally.
Operating as usual
Iraq was hit by another dust storm on Sunday again. Climate change has drastically affected these series of dust storms, and they have become increasingly common in Baghdad, Iraq. Experts predict that these dust storms will get worst in the next few decades and Iraq could suffer a 15 to 20% drop in water resources in the next two decades.
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©️ @moamal.razaq #middleeastimages
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#iraq#climatechange#mei_iraq#middleeast
Boys leave the LycÈe Esteqlal school in the centre of Kabul. The Taliban have banned teenage girls from attending school and university for the time being. Two explosions at a boys’ school in Kabul kills at least 6 people and wounds over 20 people. The blasts took place in the Shia dominated area of the city at Abdul Rahim Shahid school. None of the Islamic groups have claimed the responsibility for the attacks so far.
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©️ @olivergmarsden #middleeastimages
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#afghanistan#kabul#school#taliban#mei_afghanistan
Palestinians run to take cover from tear gas canisters fired by Israeli troops during clashes on the Gaza-Israel border, east of Gaza City, on March 1, 2019.
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©️ @mohammeddahman #middleeastimages
#palestine#gaza#war#israel#photojournalist
Middle East Images photographer Alba Cambeiro Cernadas Cernadas photos were featured in National Geographic
Faith, art, and history converge at these Islamic places of worship. We learn how architectural feats and design details chronicle Istanbul’s history.
Pahlevan of Iran
by Kia Rastar
Surprising even for Iranian journalists and locals, and unlike what it first appears, the Iranian “Pahlevan” MMA Championship League is broadcast live on YouTube for promotion. The surprise dissipates gradually…
Nowruz in Iran
Nowruz, Iranian New Year, is an ancient holiday that welcomes the first day of spring and the renewal of nature. It marks a time of new beginnings and occurs every…
Iranian women are winning significant but small victories in women’s soccer. Malavan’s female soccer team from Bandar Anzali, Iran has a strong voice when it comes to the sport. Even though in 2016 controversy erupted amongst the team supporters after the CEO of the club was quoted saying “We have many mouths to feed. When a storm-lashed ship is sinking, it starts unloading extra burdens.” This extremely sexist and belittling statement questioned women’s ability to play equally as good as the men.
After a few year absence and a change of ownership the team is back stronger than ever. One significant win for the team was on November 13th when the team qualified in Thailand for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This new start in Iran’s northern region by the Caspian Sea could pave a new beginning for female soccer players in the country and give them a tiny glimpse of hope.
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©️ @mohamadalinajib #middleeastimages
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#iran#woman#womanday8march
Women gathered for a demonstration before International Women's Day, on March 6, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. Women protested violence against women and Turkey's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention.
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©️ @mohamadalinajib #middleeastimages
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#woman#istanbul#womanday8march
In the series “Power Portraits”, the main idea is to play with the notion of power and how it is represented by the most famous and powerful political figures in the world. The golden and classic picture frame is part of the concept to emphasize the royal image that these figures are willing to project outwards and onto the people’s imagination. The calligraphic strokes play an active role in highlighting how these individuals are actually acting on the political scene and how they manipulate words, ideas, and media to their own benefit.
The portrait of Putin seems timely more than others, in the light of his current invasion of Ukraine. The black strokes on his mouth and face, are a reminder of his dark and dangerous rhetoric by which he legitimizes his stiff grip on power and the illegal actions he commits to secure it.
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©️ @sasscript #middleeastimages
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#art#portrait#usa#trump
In the series “Power Portraits”, the main idea is to play with the notion of power and how it is represented by the most famous and powerful political figures in the world. The golden and classic picture frame is part of the concept to emphasize the royal image that these figures are willing to project outwards and onto the people’s imagination. The calligraphic strokes play an active role in highlighting how these individuals are actually acting on the political scene and how they manipulate words, ideas, and media to their own benefit.
The portrait of Putin seems timely more than others, in the light of his current invasion of Ukraine. The black strokes on his mouth and face, are a reminder of his dark and dangerous rhetoric by which he legitimizes his stiff grip on power and the illegal actions he commits to secure it.
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©️ @sasscript #middleeastimages
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#art#war#portrait#ukraine#russia
Business and customer demand are high and so importers must still use the border to import banned goods. In doing so, they hire local people, called porters or kolbar, in Kurdish, to transport these goods from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iranian Kurdistan. As a result of poverty and high unemployment rates, Kurdish porters seek out a living under harsh environmental conditions, mostly in the Zagros mountains located on the border of the two countries.
According to statistics, 300 kolbars dies annually, 71 percent of whom are shot to death by border patrol officers. In the Kurdish regions of Western Iran, the Kurdish term kolbari, has been coined to describe the act of transporting goods across the border on the shoulders in exchange for a small amount of money. Their routes are located in dangerous locations including winding mountain trails, valleys, steep hills, and narrow passages through high cliffs, all the while being at the mercy of the elements. The risk of being shot by border patrol officers adds to the hazards. Surviving or wounded kolbars and their families, as well as the families of deceased kolbars, face numerous challenges and hardships. Since kolbari has not been recognized as a ‘profession’ in Iran, and the fact that the practice is illegal, affected kolbars and their families are not supported in any way by the state.
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©️ @middleeastimages
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#iran #iraq #middleeast #photojournalism #kurdistan #documentaryphotography #photojournalist #kolbar #mei_iran
64w
The Qom Islamic University for Women (Jame-atol-zahra)
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©️ @ashraftabatabaei #middleeastimages
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#iran#islam#woman#mei_iran
Protesters chant slogans while holding Ukrainian flags during the demonstration against Russian aggression. Ukrainians gathered to protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Istanbul,Turkey.
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©️ @emirkan_corut #middleeastimages
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#ukraine#protest#war#turkey#russia
Syrian artists dissent against the Assad and Putin regimes by spray painting pro-Ukrainian graffiti on a war-crumbled wall in Idlib.
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©️ @alihajsuleiman #middleeastimaged
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#syria#russia#war#ukraine
Iranian woman holding her dog in front of her house in Yazd, Iran.
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@middleeastimages
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#iran#woman#islam#dog#everydayiran#middleeastimages#Mei_iran#photography
Graffiti on a wall in Iranian Kurdistan represents the current issues coming from the Iranian government. The regime is undertaking a process that will establish a government-regulated widespread internet service that only allows for permissible domain access, thus further restricting online freedom for its people..
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©️ @hamidnikkhah #middleeastimages
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#iran#internet#islamic
Afghan refugees packed into the trunk of a car during their trek into and through Iran. Between 12 and 15 people usually ride in each car.
An impoverished Aghan woman stands begging in front of a flower shop in Kabul on Valentine’s Day.
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©️ @morteza_3amadi #middleastimages
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#afghanistan#kabul#Valentine’s Day.
A woman goes shopping in the famous Jordan supermarket of the time, Tehran, 1975.
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© @fardid_khadem ©Noureddine Nazmi Lachinzadeh / middleeastimages.
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#iran #dailylife #middleeast #70s #documentaryphotography #mei_iran
Over the next few days, we will share some photos from the Khadem family, rephotographed by Fardid Khadem. These photos were originally taken in the 1970’s in different cities across Iran.
“No matter who is the first photographer of these family photos or who are seen in the pictures, the main aim is the stories told by the pictures,” Fardid says.
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© @fardid_khadem ©Noureddine Nazmi Lachinzadeh / middleeastimages.
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#iran #dailylife #middleeast #70s #documentaryphotography #mei_iran
Elham Zaidi wrote a letter to her daughter during the pandemic.
Caption-2: Elham Zaidi, 46. years old from the south of Yemen. She has one son with autism and another one with obstruction. She came to Egypt in search of medicine for her sons, leaving her daughter with her aunt. Later her daughter went missing, and Elham thought that maybe she had died. She then received word from the Red Crescent that her daughter was alive, but that she couldn't see her due to Covid. Her internal conflict is reaching extreme levels, as she is doing nothing but worrying about the future.
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©️ @fatmah.fahmy #middleeastimages
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#yemen#egypt#woman#photography#documentary#art
Arafaat, 27, from Ethiopia. While she was 4 months pregnant, she left her country with her husband and each of their families and moved to Egypt. Due to widespread political persecutions, her husband disappeared in 2019. She was alone, looking for her husband throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but he didn’t come home until recently. Arafaat said, “we became strangers in Egypt and lived some hard times but being with my husband makes it much better.” Jun. 27, 2021.
The @WhereLoveIsIllegal Fellowship is designed to support LGBTQI+ identifying photographers to contribute to the narratives that define q***r communities. Three photographers will be awarded up to $5000 to create original photographic work and record testimonies about the q***r experience. Applicants are expected to show past photographic work and write a project proposal on how they will share stories from q***r communities in Europe, Africa, or the Middle East. There is no fee to enter and the application deadline is 14 February, 2022. For more information and to apply.
Hamun Lake is the third largest (and largest freshwater) #lake in #Iran. However, over the past 20 years, the lake has nearly completely dried up. In the last three years, the slight increase in rainfall has resupplied water only to a relatively small part of Hamun.
In a futile attempt to restore the region's habitats, Iran's Fisheries Organization has released hundreds of thousands of already-endangered carp into the lake; until now, however, millions of fish have died as the water dried up again in only a few months. Locals, who once worked as #fishermen, collect the dead fish in hopes of earning enough money to feed their families by selling the rotting carcasses to fertilizer companies. These fishermen will have no tangible income by the upcoming year. All they can do is longingly gaze at the sky in hopes of receiving the much-needed #rain that would at least temporarily restore their #livelihoods.
© #middleeastimages
#hamunlake #photography #photogarapher #storytelling #storyteller #rain #drought
Golnaz Shahmirzadi, born and raised in #Iran, says that #photography is her passion because it provides her with the means of expressing her feelings. Her fine arts photography project Men in Transit, portrays Iranian #refugee men aged between twenty-five and thirty-five, and defines their struggles of finding political refuge in the United States.
© @golnazsh / #middleeastimages
#photographer #refugeemen #usa
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