Iraq News
Topic/Entertainment_Culture/sectionlead

Photo exhibition captures heroism of Iraqi forces

By Khalid al-Taie

Karim al-Abboudi, secretary of the Iraqi Photojournalists Association, stands next to one of his photographs at an exhibition at the Iraqi Ministry of Oil. [Photo credit: Karim al-Abboudi]

Karim al-Abboudi, secretary of the Iraqi Photojournalists Association, stands next to one of his photographs at an exhibition at the Iraqi Ministry of Oil. [Photo credit: Karim al-Abboudi]

In the cultural events hall inside the Iraqi Ministry of Oil building, a group of Iraqi photographers displayed their work depicting the reality the country's security forces face in their ongoing war against the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL).

The photos capture the lives of the soldiers on the battlefield, their heroism and their stories of sacrifice.

Karim al-Abboudi, secretary of the Iraqi Photojournalists Association and one of the participants in the exhibition, said the event was a joint initiative between his association and the Ministry of Oil "to support our security forces in the fight to eliminate ISIL gangs".

The exhibition, which opened August 12th, includes 50 photographs by an assortment of Iraqi photojournalists who work at local and international media organisations, al-Abboudi told Diyaruna.

Troops, journalists fighting ISIL

The images show how Iraqi security forces are "fighting tooth and nail [and are] not afraid of death", he said.

"The photos also included shots with a human perspective on the daily life of the fighters and how they left their children and families behind to answer the call of the homeland," he said.

The exhibition is a message of support and appreciation to the soldiers who are facing the "enemies of humanity", he said.

"The lenses of our cameras are our weapons that we use to fight ISIL and through them we raise the morale of our troops," he said.

"Media is half the battle, and we as journalists have a national duty to portray the epics of our soldiers and preserve them for our future generations," al-Abboudi said.

"All our sacrifices will remain immortal and the fate of the terrorists will be to disappear," he said.

Capturing historic moment

Sabah Arar, vice president of the Media Photographers Association, said the exhibition is unique as it contains documentary shots of a critical phase in Iraqi history.

"Our exhibition highlights the impressive victories of our army and security forces and the efforts of our fighters to expel the terrorists from cities, save innocent civilians and maintain liberated territory," he told Diyaruna.

One of the goals in organising the event, he said, was to emphasise that photographers "are hand in hand with their heroic troops to break the backbone of terrorism".

"We want this page of the history of our country to be documented in images, sounds and true words," Arar said, adding that his organisation has begun to form a team of photographers to document the liberation of Mosul.

Forging national unity

The exhibition is one of many events organised by the Ministry of Oil in co-operation with cultural, journalist and media organisations that focus on supporting the security forces and forging national unity in the face of terrorism, said ministry spokesman Asem Jihad.

The photographers of this exhibition "visited the battlefronts, lived for an extended period of time with the fighters and took with their cameras stunning images from the heart of the battles", he said.

The exhibition moved to Mutanabi Street in Baghdad on August 26th, and it also will be shown "at the headquarters of our companies in all provinces in the country", he said.

Jihad stressed that the ministry, within the framework of cultural activities, "is striving to have a distinct presence in providing moral and tactical support to Iraqi forces and countering the backward terrorist ideology [while] emphasising peaceful co-existence".

Do you like this article?

0 Comment(s)
Comment Policy * Denotes Required Field 1500 / 1500