Mirror to the world
Alfred Yaghobzadeh

© Alfred Yaghobzadeh

From October 7 to November 3

Alfred Yaghobzadeh was born in Tehran, Iran in 1959, to an Armenian father and Assyrian mother.
In 1979 the Iranian Revolution interrupted his studies in interior design and he turned instead to photographing the turbulent streets of Teheran. Aged nineteen, he reported the devastation of the Iran-Iraq war and this formative experience set the agenda for the subsequent course of his career, both in the choice of subjects covered as well as the agencies that represented his work. He began with Associated Press, followed by the Paris-based agencies, Gamma and Sygma. He spent two years in Lebanon for Newsweek during the civil war before finally joining Sipa Press where he remained for twenty-nine years.
Alfred’s assignments have taken him around the world, reporting on breaking news and major conflicts in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. He was wounded and taken hostage 55 days in Lebanon’s civil war, and some years later seriously wounded in Chechnya that he was lucky to survive. Additionally, he has reported on humanitarian crises and politics in several countries. Whatever he photographs he does so with remarkable professionalism and a relentless energy that has produced a rich archive.
His work has received the World Press Photo first prize. His photographs have featured on the covers and pages of numerous international publications including Stern, Time, Geo, Newsweek, Paris Match, Elle, Figaro Magazine, National Geographic, Life, El Pais, The Guardian.
The years he spent reporting enabled Alfred to observe man’s destructive nature. After witnessing four decades of conflicts and revolutions he says, “I make no judgements, I am a sort of guest who acts as a mirror, showing what I see. But I can state that the exercise of freedom is misunderstood. Those who have gained freedom from oppression quickly become the oppressors themselves. It as though humanity is incapable of breaking free from this vicious circle. Man makes others suffer what he has suffered himself. This puzzles me. I really wonder if it was worth taking all those risks and believing in all those revolutions.”

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Outside in Bayeux
The layout of the exhibition can be found in details at the Office of Tourism

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This exhibition was created in association with