CHALK LINES: The Caucasus

Founder of NOOR photo agency photographer Stanley Greene covered the ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and ‪Armenia over the ‪Nagorno-‪‎Karabakh region. His photographic project “Chalk Lines: The Caucasus” is a striking testimony of the profound human catastrophe playing out in the Caucasus region.

Stanley Greene doesn’t just take photos. He also expresses his independent approach to the audience: “Very little in the Caucasus is obvious. There is no free and open press, travel is arduous, foreigners are viewed suspiciously, warlords and cynical ethnic politicians operate terror fiefdoms. To get into some regions, one must pass through the Russian military. Generations of narrow ethnic nationalism have bound an illiterate population to hatred, whose flames are now fanned by global powers. Soaked with hundreds of years of blood, the last 12 years in the Caucasus have been the most vicious. After many years of work in the region, I see this project as an investigative return to the scene of the crime.”

Azerbaijani photographer Sitara Ibrahimbeyli shares the experience she encountered during the presentation of this project:

I participated in one of the workshops held by the NOOR photo agency in 2015. Along with me, there were 3 Armenian participants in our team. Our mentor was Stanley Greene. He answered questions from the audience after the presentation of the “Chalk Lines: Caucasus” project and said that he was on the side of Azerbaijan as an eyewitness of the Karabakh war. His views were met with dissatisfaction by the Armenian participants and provoked protests. The photographer replied: “You are young and you did not witness the war, you are almost unaware of the realities. The reason I am in favor of Azerbaijani as a photojournalist is because I see the atrocities with my own eyes. Yes, I have a side, because I know the truth. “