Men watching a cock fight in the countryside near Viales, Picture: Tomas Munita/The New York Times
A young girl peers out from a line of women waiting for food and water in Mosul, a crowd gathers to watch a cockfight in Cuba, and an undernourished patient languishes in a state-run psychiatric hospital in Venezuela – these three striking images form part of Hard Truths, an exhibition of prize-winning photography from the New York Times set to open in Edinburgh this Friday.
The free-to-enter exhibition will run at the Assembly Rooms on George Street until Monday August 27.
Five New York Times photojournalists will showcase 60 deeply revealing images, exploring conflict, humanitarian crises, societal change and individual identity.
This collection is the first of its kind from The New York Times.
It will include the work of Ivor Prickett, an Irish photographer who has been based in Iraq since 2009.
Earlier this year he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his heartbreaking pictures of the survivors of ISIS attacks in Mosul and Raqqa.
Images from Daniel Berehulak will showcase President Duterte’s anti-drug war in the Philippines, while those from Meredith Kohut’s work in Venezuela document the corruption found there. The exhibition will also feature portraits from Newsha Tavakolian of her fellow Iranians going about their daily life, as well as work from Tomas Munita in Cuba.
Hard Truths was organised by New York Times international picture editor David Furst, along with Arthur Ollman of the Foundation for the Exhibition of photography.
Jodi Rudoren of the New York Times, writing in an introduction to the exhibition, said: “Photographers arrive in forlorn corners of the world as strangers, but bring an honest commitment to share their subject’s story, to show the world as he or she lives it.
“They withstand hurricanes or snipe fire; they wade in polluted water, sleep in crowded boxcars or endure tear gas alongside the protagonists. They do these things because they cannot recreate the situation later. They must be there.”
Mark Muller Stuart, of the Beyond Borders Scotland Festival said: ”Photojournalism is a powerful, universal medium which aids our understanding of the human condition and complex world events.
“It prompts a visceral reaction and makes important issues hard to ignore.”
A key part of the exhibition will be a series of events to discuss the role that can be played by the photographer and photojournalism in times of political change.
One such event will take place at the Edinburgh Book Festival, where Ivor Prickett and New York Times Europe Editor Jim Yardly will speak about the work on Sunday August 12 at 6.45pm.
Hard Truths will move to Traquir House in Innerleithen for the Beyond Borders International Festival on Saturday and Sunday August 25 and 26.
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