ALEX KĂœHNI photojournalist
Alex Kühni Photography Book 2020 St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271 First edition: November 2020 ISBN: 978-1-5011-9110-9 Designed by Wendy Ceballos Printed and manufactured in the United States of America www.alexkuehni.com
All my photographs should stand as a document of what I saw and always be viewed as stories of people, never of political or ideological ideas. -Alex KĂźhni
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CONTENT
ALEX KÃœHNI
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IRAQ
10
SYRIA
16
NORTH KOREA
22
BANGLADESH
28
MIDDLE EAST
32
ASIA
38
EUROPE
42
ARMY AND GOVERMENT
46
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ALEX KÜHNI
ALEX KÜHNI I’m a documentary photographer with the focus on war, conflict and social issues. My home is the swiss capital Bern, where I part time teach in photography and digital media production. 2018 I won first place in the category «world» of the Swiss Press Photo Award for a series on Iraqi snipers in the battle for Mosul. As a photojournalist I want to be just to the people who share their stories with me. I want my pictures to be powerful and eloquent. Thank you for the interest in my work Alex. Awards: – 2018: 1. place Swiss Press Photo (foreign category) – 2020: 3. place Swiss Press Photo (foreign category)
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ALEX KÜHNI
IRAQ On June 10, 2014, after only four days of clashes, militants of the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) fully captured Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul. Only after two years, in October 2016, the Iraqi Kurds, their Peshmerga fighters and several armed Shiite and Christian groups launched an operation to liberate it, called We Are Coming Nineveh. Since then the war has been taking a deadly toll on hundreds of thousands civilians caught in the crossfire. War photojournalist Alex Kühni traveled to Mosul and showed in 10 photographs how a two-million person city fights for life and freedom.
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IRAQ
A young man breaks in tears finding his dead father outside a casualty collection point. The father died moments before by severe shrapnel wounds to his torso and head after stepping on an IED (improvised explosive device) planted by ISIS militants. The family was fleeing fighting between ISIS and Iraqi special forces a few hundred meters away in the Karama neighborhood.
A couple carrying their grandson out of an embattled east Mosul neighborhood. The child suffered several shrapnel wounds to both of his legs and right hand. Since the beginning of the battle in November 2016, 160,000 civilians managed to flee the fighting with 750,000 still trapped in this huge city turned into a battlefield. 11
IRAQ
A young man breaks in tears finding his dead father outside a casualty collection point. The father died moments before by severe shrapnel wounds to his torso and head after stepping on an IED (improvised explosive device) planted by ISIS militants. The family was fleeing fighting between ISIS and Iraqi special forces a few hundred meters away in the Karama neighborhood.
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IRAQ
A member of the Iraqi counter-terrorist unit is handing food aid from the back of a truck to civilians after the liberation of east Mosul’s al-Quds neighborhood.
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IRAQ
A group of Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers resting after recapturing the town of Bashiqa in the north-east of Mosul District. For the Kurds the fighting is over for now, since they are not allowed to take part in the battle for Mosul’s inner city. 14
IRAQ
Mosul is a Sunni majority city where Kurdish forces would not be viewed as part of a liberation force.
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SYRIA
SYRIA 16
SYRIA
THE CAMPS
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SYRIA
ISIS PRISON
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SYRIA
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SYRIA
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SYRIA
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NORTH KOREA
NORTH KOREA Traveling in North Korea generates a constant almost comical clash of interest between the state-trained tour guides and the visiting tourists. The highlights of the tours are visits to monuments, memorials and prearranged spots, such as schools. The guides encourage tourists to take pictures of Kim Il Sung statues (where only frontal framing is allowed) and squares with monuments. Often, visitors are forced to erase pictures, particularly if their subjects are poor-looking people. These circumstances create an aura of rareness about these pictures of North Korea among tourists, leading to an odd situation best described as a “human safari.” -Alex Kühni
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NORTH KOREA
“Now we pay respect� is the signal for western tourists to bow to the massive bronze statues of the two deceased presidents. The bowing is mandatory for tourists visiting the statues of North Korean leaders.
Many children take taekwondo lessons in preparation for an army career in Rason. 23
NORTH KOREA
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NORTH KOREA
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NORTH KOREA
The world’s most dangerous border – the blue barracks of the Joint Security Area (JSA) is the only portion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone where North and South Korean forces stand face-to-face. The border between the two countries (in a state of war since 1950) runs across meeting tables inside the barracks for the two parties to be able to talk remaining inside their territory. Photo 1 shows the door leading to South Korea, guarded by north korean soldiers. -Alex Kühni
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NORTH KOREA
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BANGLADESH
BANGLADESH
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Kutupalong is the largest refugee camp in the world. It’s located in the south of Bangladesh and inhabits mostly Rohingya Muslims that have fled from the conflict and possible genozide in neighboring Myanmar. The camp is home to more than 550’000 refugees. -Alex Kühni
BANGLADESH
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BANGLADESH
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BANGLADESH
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MIDDLE EAST
MIDDLE EAST 32
MIDDLE EAST
Nepalese United Nationals soldiers on the back of a truck, patrolling the border triangle between Lebanon, Israel and Syria. Southeast Lebanon, May 2014. -Alex KĂźhni
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MIDDLE EAST
West Bank clashes
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MIDDLE EAST
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MIDDLE EAST
2014-War in Gaza
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MIDDLE EAST
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ASIA
ASIA 38
ASIA
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ASIA
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ASIA
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EUROPE
EUROPE 42
EUROPE
43
EUROPE
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EUROPE
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ARMY AND GOVERMENT EUROPE
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EUROPE
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EUROPE
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EUROPE
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EUROPE
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