Road to Resilience
Road to Resilience
Gaël Turine
April 8, 2020
Forty years after the Islamic Revolution, Gaël Turine spent three weeks travelling across Iran on assignment for the Arte TV station. Covered by a tourist visa, his road trip took him along paths through a divided society – from Kurdistan in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south.
‘Kurdistan province, Iran. I was in a car driving from one village to another to discover rural life, when I saw these two men photographing themselves in front of the majestic mountain scenery. Their traditional clothing indicated that they were Kurdish. While the selfie-stick is experiencing record sales figures in Iran, seeing these two men take a break, carefully choosing where to stand, taking the time to frame, asking the other to smile or look towards the snow-covered peaks, was almost a relief. Suddenly, photography was much more than an ego-narcissistic gesture or an object of pure consumption.
I had fun seeing them immortalize this moment. Their attitudes, the mountain scenery, the satisfaction of being first the photographer and then the subject, the grey light of a charged sky, the two trees that have grown up amid the boulders... all magnify the moment. Looking closely at this picture, I realized that if I loved it, it was because here was a scene that was a little out of time – even "counter-time".'
The portfolio Road to Resilience by Gaël Turine can be found in LFI magazine 3/2020.
‘Kurdistan province, Iran. I was in a car driving from one village to another to discover rural life, when I saw these two men photographing themselves in front of the majestic mountain scenery. Their traditional clothing indicated that they were Kurdish. While the selfie-stick is experiencing record sales figures in Iran, seeing these two men take a break, carefully choosing where to stand, taking the time to frame, asking the other to smile or look towards the snow-covered peaks, was almost a relief. Suddenly, photography was much more than an ego-narcissistic gesture or an object of pure consumption.
I had fun seeing them immortalize this moment. Their attitudes, the mountain scenery, the satisfaction of being first the photographer and then the subject, the grey light of a charged sky, the two trees that have grown up amid the boulders... all magnify the moment. Looking closely at this picture, I realized that if I loved it, it was because here was a scene that was a little out of time – even "counter-time".'
The portfolio Road to Resilience by Gaël Turine can be found in LFI magazine 3/2020.
Text & Image: © Gaël Turine
EQUIPMENT: Leica Q, Summilux 28 f/1.7 Asph
Gaël Turine+-
Turine is a freelance documentary photographer. His work is exhibited worldwide in galleries, museums and at festivals; his essays are
published in the international press. The Belgian is a founding member of the MAPS Agency,and has presided over it since its establishment.
He teaches photojournalism at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and runs documentary photography workshops in many countries. More