When Auckland photographer Joe Dowling got robbed in Iran, leaving him with no credit card and no way to get cash from an ATM, he had little option but to use his last $60 to cross the border into Iraq and get help from his friends teaching at international schools. He got work teaching English in Kurdistan, a largely autonomous region in Iraq’s north, and from there was able to continue his project photographing a region ripped apart by war.
Joe got in touch with local fixers the traditional way—through private security contractors and journalists he met at bars. They’d drive him up to the front lines where he documented the urgency and bizarre normalcy of the conflict with ISIS firsthand. “Coming under mortar fire near Mama was quite hairy, ” says Joe. “The soldiers were pretty unperturbed, mind you.”
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Back in the cities, Joe hunted out back-alley photo labs to develop his images. The rough edges and scratches on the prints reflect the reality of existing in a country where resources are stretched to the limit. “Towards the end of my stint in Erbil, the processing was getting pretty shoddy,” says Joe. “I don’t think my mates near the Qaysari bazaar changed their chemicals the whole time we were there.”
A soldier surveys Da’esh mortar positions, Mama frontline. Kurdistan, Iraq
Tonight on VICELAND, The Road to Mosul ventures into the same areas of unrest. Embedding with volunteer Pershmerga soldiers, just as Joe did, VICE journalist Aris Roussinos provides an insight into the stalemate of war following Islamic State’s lightning conquest of Mosul.
Two and a half years after ISIS seized control of Iraq’s second largest city, it remains a key battleground. Despite a US-backed offensive launched last October, Iraqi and Kurdish forces have so far failed to fully reclaim the city. An estimated 750,000 people are trapped in west Mosul and Save the Children are warning of a growing humanitarian crisis.
So after living in Iraq for a year, what does Joe see in the country’s future? “That’s an incredibly complicated question,” he says. “Especially given the latest geo-political developments. I try to be optimistic given the amazing experiences I had with the people there, but I don’t think the majority of politicians—domestically and globally—have Iraq’s best interests at heart. I have my fingers crossed.”
The Road to Mosul is on VICELAND, SKY Channel 13, tonight at 8:30 PM.
A Window That Isn’t There, an exhibition of Joe’s work from the Middle East, opens at Allpress Studios in Auckland tomorrow.
The recently deconstructed black gun market just outside of Erbil.
A soldier surveys Da’esh postions at an outpost near the Mama frontline.
A soldier prays in the division’s barracks at the Kirkuk frontline.
Sartup of the Kurdish Peshmerga at the Kirkuk frontline.
People trying to enter Kurdistan after Mosul was taken by ISIS.
Akre refugee camp in Kurdistan.
The last line of Kurdish defence before Mosul just weeks after the city was taken. Photography was not allowed but I snapped this one from my back as we walked away.
See more of Joe Dowling’s work here and follow him on Instagram.
