The Kurds are the largest stateless ethnic minority on earth. A people of 40 million whom carry the living aspirations of a culture, a history, an identity that has not yet been allowed to exist. This condemnation by the rulers of the ages is a familiar one for those who would seek their own freedom.?After having suffered centuries of persecution, oppression and genocide, they have steadfastly remained their own people. Being offered assimilation or the requisite destruction, the Iraqi Kurds have refused both and embraced a lonely existence. This is a portrait of the instinct to persist.
The Kurds are the largest stateless ethnic minority on the planet. They are a people of 40 million whom carry the living aspirations of a culture, a history, an identity that has not yet been allowed to exist. This condemnation by the rulers of the ages is a familiar one for those who would seek their own freedom. After having suffered centuries of persecution, oppression and genocide, they have steadfastly remained their own people. Being offered assimilation or the requisite destruction, the Iraqi Kurds have refused both and embraced a lonely existence in defiantly declaring their own survival. In a region that has been the birthplace and ruin to countless empires and gods, the Kurds have remained. They are a rare people, capable of carrying the great burden of their own freedom through this ancient land. This instinct to persist, no matter the difficulty, is something I document with my work.