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Murat Yazar is a Kurdish photographer from Eastern Turkey.  He studied Tourism at Harran University in Turkey. He worked with Turkey's leading photographers at Fototrek Photography Center in Istanbul. Yazar has been working as a freelance photographer since 2008. He has created photo projects in his home country Kurdistan, in the Middle East, Armenia, Georgia, Iran and Europe. Murat crossed Anatolia into Georgia by walking 1200 km as part of the Out of Eden Walk project. Murat Yazar has been based in Italy for the last 6 years.

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Exhibitions Include:

We-Are refugees: 

• Can Yüce Culture and Art Festival, Datça-Türkiye in 2024

• BIS: Biennale in Italy in 2024

•  BarrObjektif Festival, France in 2015 / • Centre Cívic Can Basté, Spain in 2014

 

 Ararat-After The Flood: 

•  Visa pour l'Image Perpignan, France in 2022 (screening show)

•  Zoom Photo Festival, Canada in 2023

•  Castelnuovo di Porto foto festival in Italy in 2024

 

Shadows of Kurdistan - A photographic research of a cultural identity; 

•  Corto Dorico Film Festival, Italy in 2019

• Babel Film Festival, Italy in 2019 

• Zoom Photo Festival Saguenay, Canada in 2018 

• Paris Kurdish İnstitute, France in 2021

• Diversify Photo - Photovile, New York in USA in 2024

 

Saturday Mothers:

Cegerxwin Cultural Center, Diyarbakir in 2012

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A walk through Anatolia: 

•  BarrObjektif Festival, France in 2016 in 

 

Face of Mesopotamia;

•  Sprachenatelier Berlin, Germany in 2011

 

Publications Include: 

• National Geographic Magazine / • Now Magazine, Canada / • IZ Magazine, Turkey / • Le Courrier, Swiss / • The New York Times, US / • Artribune magazine, Italy / • Travel Globe Magazine, Italy / • Saiten Magazine, Swissn

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Grants and Awards Include:

• Pulitzer Center grant: Lost Paradise-Tigris and Euphrates river system. 2024

• Shadows of Kurdistan "Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente" (ISMEO) e Istituto Kurdo di Roma

​• Collaboration project with Rochester and Cornell universities: After curfew Silvan and Sur in Turkey.

 

• MonoVisions Black & White Photography Awards Winner 2019

• Sony World Photography Awards shortlist winner in 2020​

• The Grand Prize winner of 2020 Banff Mountain Photo Essay Competition in 2020

​• PX3 Paris 2020 Winner - Prize Silver in Book/Documentary

​• Siena International Photo Award 2020 / Prize Honorable mention

​• W. Eugene Smith Memorial Grant Finalist 2022

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Published Book: 

• Shadows of Kurdistan. A photographic research of a cultural identity

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