Kurdistan-Iraq

In December 1962, I was the first T.V. newsman to answer the call of Mulla Mustafa Barzani, and decide to chronicle the Kurds of Irak's fight against former General Kassem.

I spent five months there. A book was made using my photographs.

Today, the Kurds, torn apart by a fratricidal war, need more than ever a testimony on their enduring tragedy. Regretably, today's media will only send its cameras if such a drama makes good pictures.

The slow daily agony of an entire people strangled by the double embargo, imposed both by the United Nations over Irak, and the central government of Bagdad, does not necessarily provide dramatic footage.

So, who cares about the Kurds?

This book is a collection of photographs. It doesn't intend to cover all the facets of the kurdish problem.

It is but a snapshot, a brief instant of History revisited. The choice of documents was sometimes imposed by technical quality. My apologies for this, and my thanks to all those who have helped me to make this book.