Murat Yazar
Member of the NCU since 2026
Based in Palermo, Italy
Biography
Murat Yazar was born in 1978 in the city of Urfa in southeastern Turkey. In 2017, he moved to Italy, and after working in Rome for a long period, he settled in Palermo.
In 2006, for the purpose of professional training, Murat moved to Istanbul, having graduated with a higher education degree in tourism from Harran University in Şanlıurfa.
In 2006, he completed specialized courses at the İSMEK and Fototrek Photograph Centre.
Since 2007, he has been working as a completely independent documentary photographer and freelance photojournalist. His images and photo essays are regularly published in leading global publications, including National Geographic, The New York Times, Time, and Geo.
Since 2008, he has been creating long-term visual stories focusing on memory, migration, borders, and social transformations. His work spans a vast geography—from Turkey to the Caucasus, and from the Middle East to the Balkans and Europe.
As part of the “Out of Eden Walk” project supported by National Geographic, he documented a foot route of approximately 1,200 kilometers from Urfa to Georgia.
In 2024, his extensive project “Lost Paradise” brought attention to the ecological crisis facing Middle Eastern river systems.
Since 2026 — member of the Noga Creative Union.
Awards & Honors
2026 — Laureate of the RPBB Grand Experts Award.
2024 — Eugene Smith Foundation grant.
2024 — Pulitzer Centre grant.
2020 — First prize in the Banff Mountain Photo Essay Competition.
2020 — Shortlisted for the ‘Discovery’ category at the Sony World Photography Awards.
2019 — Winner of the MonoVisions Black & White Photography Awards in the ‘People’ category.
Solo exhibitions
2026 — Shadows of Kurdistan, Initial LABO, Paris, France.
2026 — Shadows of Kurdistan, Biennale Internazionale di Senigallia BIS, Senigallia, Italy.
2026 — Shadows of Kurdistan, European Photography Festival, Palazzo Leone da Perego, Legnano, Italy.
2024 — We-Are refugees, Can Yüce Culture and Art Festival, Datça, Turkey.
2024 — We-Are refugees, Biennale Internazionale di Senigallia BIS, Senigallia, Italy.
2024 — Shadows of Kurdistan, Photoville Photography Festival in partnership with Diversify Photo, New York, USA.
2024 — Ararat — After the Flood, Castelnuovo Fotografia Festival, Rocca Colonna medieval castle, Castelnuovo di Porto, Italy.
2023 — Ararat — After the Flood, Zoom Photo Festival Saguenay, La Pulperie de Chicoutimi historical museum, Saguenay, Canada.
2022 — Ararat — After the Flood, Visa pour l’Image International Festival of Photojournalism, Perpignan, France.
2021 — Shadows of Kurdistan, Paris Kurdish Institute, France.
2019 — Shadows of Kurdistan, Babel Film Festival, Cagliari, Italy.
2019 — Shadows of Kurdistan, Corto Dorico Film Festival, Ancona, Italy.
2018 — Shadows of Kurdistan, Zoom Photo Festival, Saguenay, Canada.
2015 — We-Are refugees, BarrObjektif International Festival of Photojournalism and Documentary Photography, Barro, France.
2014 — We-Are refugees, Centre Cívic Can Basté, Barcelona, Spain.
2012 — Saturday Mothers, Cegerxwîn Cultural Center, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
Bibliography
2020 — Shadows of Kurdistan. A photographic research on cultural identity, Scienze e Lettere, eng., ISBN-13: 978-8866871798, Rome, Italy.
