Baghdad Calling
Geert van Kesteren
episode
English
Softcover
388 pages
195 x 255 mm
2008
ISBN 9789059730836
Three years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, gruesome violence and hopeless political crisis dominated the country. It spawned the world’s biggest exodus of civilians since 1948; out of 23 million Iraqis, well over four and a half million fled by 2006. The UNHCR estimated there were more than 1,2 million Iraqi refugees in Syria and half a million in Jordan. I decided to visit these refugees – Iraqis of all sects – and have one question on my mind; ‘why did you leave?’ To my surprise, they took their mobile phones and showed me reality…
In 2005-7, a mobile phone with a camera was a novelty. In post-war Iraq, it quickly became an item of utmost importance. Insurgents used mobile phones to communicate and detonate bombs, while Iraqis relied on them to avoid danger. It guided the refugees to safety. I also noticed that the refugees used their mobile phones as family albums; a window to dreams, love, and terror.
(source: https://www.geertvankesteren.net/)
About the Artist
Geert van Kesteren (b. 1966) is a photographer and filmmaker born in the Netherlands and currently based in Yafo Tel-Aviv.
In his early career, Van Kesteren was working as a photojournalist for international magazines such as Der Stern and Newsweek covering crises and the news in more than 50 countries. He was represented by Magnum Photos from 2005-8. Today, he shifted from photography to filmmaking and works in Israel and the Palestinian Territories as a cinematographer for independent documentary filmmakers and camera operator for public news broadcasters such as the NOS.
https://www.geertvankesteren.net/
(source: https://www.geertvankesteren.net/about)
About the Publisher
episode publishers are a Dutch publisher based in Rotterdam. They are publishers of books on art, culture, architecture and science. episode books seek to enact, reflect and explore the dialogue between these areas.
(source: https://www.publishersglobal.com/directory/publisher-profile/3348)
