The second event in the “National Geographic On Campus!” series will take place on May 7 at Boğaziçi University in Turkey.

The joint event by Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Center, Boğaziçi University Agricultural Platform and National Geographic, will bring together photographer and author Reza Deghati, whose photographs appeared on the covers of various magazines such as National Geographic, Time Magazine and Newsweek, and 2017/18 Mercator-IPC Fellow Barış Karapınar, climate change expert from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The panelists will discuss the effects of climate change on food security and poverty.

Climate Change and Our World

Speakers: Reza Deghati & Assoc. Prof. Barış Karapınar
Venue: Boğaziçi University Rectorate Conference Hall, Bebek, İstanbul
Date: Monday, May 7, 2018
Time: 14:00-16:00

NOTE: This event is open to participants from outside the university. Participants need to register for the event using the link below. The event will be held in English

please click here for REGISTRATION

Through my photographs, I have always tried to capture testimonies of human kind, particularly in places where different cultures intersect.

 For thirty years I have travelled the roads of the world examining religion. From covering the great myths of the Bible to the hajj to Mecca, I have crossed paths with diverse groups of people with varying religious beliefs and cultures, all brought together by a mutual respect for the other.

Not too far away, there is a place where Christians, Muslims and Jews live peacefully on the same land. I was lucky enough to meet these people over the course of several months while reporting in Azerbaijan: I was invited to break the fast with Muslims during the month of Ramadan, witness the first Christians (the Oudis) from the Caucus region pray, and explore the small streets of the “Red Village,” one of the only all Jewish enclaves outside of Israel. 
From one community to the next, I was deeply moved by these profound believers. In my photographs, I strive to grasp the moments when humans begin to reveal their true selves. I find a sort of serenity and intrigue in small details, such as a hand that clutches a sacred book or rosary.

In this photo, I focus on the graceful sweetness of the grandmother’s arm guiding her granddaughter in the pilgrimage to celebrate Saint George. The grandmother carefully protects the young girl’s delicate hand from dripping wax from the bees-wax-candles, lit in memory of this venerated destroyer of dragons who is now worshiped by Christians and Muslims alike. The fragile flame of the candle, illuminating the child’s eyes, instills a certainty in me that tolerance weaves the ineffable links of a plural society. 

At the United Nations in New York, this visual homage to tolerance will be exhibited, starting on September 27th, within the framework of the forum organized by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.

At the United Nations in New York, this visual homage to tolerance will be exhibited, starting on September 27th, within the framework of the forum organized by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. It was also exhibited on October 22, 2013 at UNESCO in Paris to commemorate the 550^th anniversary of the death of the Azeri poet and philosopher Seyyid Yahya Bakuvi (Shirvani). An exhibition will be held at the European Parliament, in Brussels and at the Azerbaijani Cultural Center of Paris, as well.

exhibition by Reza: DroitS à l’essentiel

As a young schoolboy in my native Iran, I discovered the verses of Sa’adi Shirazi, a 13th-century Persian poet and great traveller. I understood then that the message he left us was truly a timeless one, one which eventually became a blueprint for the United Nations. His message was that the actions of each being can be harmful, or create a virtuous cycle on a global scale:

Human beings are members of a whole,

In creation of one essence and soul.

If one member is afflicted with pain,

Other members uneasy will remain.

If you have no sympathy for human pain,

The name of human you cannot retain.

Consequently, governments alone cannot justly manage societies. Their mandate since their creation can be reduced to one major prerogative: crowd control.  Over the last few decades, pockets of resistance, whether individual or in groups, have appeared here and there, thrusting the issue of solidarity to the forefront of public debate. This is why I felt that it was vital for me to support International Solidarity Week.

This year, I have the honour of presiding over the sixteenth annual celebration of this event and of meeting the major actors in our struggles for the seven essential rights. In each of these people I have seen the reflections of the silent heroes of my photographs, those whose destinies crossed mine on roads taken throughout the world. Here and there, I learned the conviction that altruism and consciousness about the other are the foundations of our humanity. Each and every one of us has the responsibility to spread this message until each week is a week of international solidarity.

Exhibition DroitS à l’essentiel by REZA

Square of the Hôtel de Ville, Paris

Metro Hôtel de Ville

November 15-20, 2013

Free Entrance

For more information

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