Simon Chang / Shepherds and the Slaughterhouse (Pastirji in klavnica)

Kurdistan was, in the past years, often the center of photojournalistic reporting. An autonomous region spanning across the north of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran, it has been subjected to violence from Islamic radical groups (most recently) since 2014. But where many photographers turned their lens towards the conflict itself, Simon Chang seemed to be more interested in the less obvious wounds of the nation, ones concealed even inside it. Between two visits to north Iraq – one in 2018 and one in 2019, he became interested in two places existing as part of everyday life yet removed or rejected from the eye of the public. The first was Hawler, a psychiatric hospital in Erbil, and the second The Duhok Municipal Slaughterhouse in the mountains of Simele. The photographer documented his encounters both with photographs and in writing, enabling the reader to immerse themselves in the stories of the Kurdish people and catch a glimpse of their extraodrinary lives.

The book includes essays by Simon Chang in Slovene and English.

The book has won the Best Designed Book Award at Slovene Book Fair 2023 and the Belfast Photo Festival Photo-Book Award 2024 and was shortlisted for the Brumen design award in 2024.

Language: Slovenian, English, Mandarin
Size: 23 x 15 cm
Binding: hardcover
Graphic design: Aljaž Vesel in Anja Delbello/AA
Publisher: Galerija Fotografija, 2023