Kurdish Woman
Eastern Turkey 2008
The Kurds are bearing the burden of the fight against ISIS. Their hope is that at the end, in addition to peace, they will finally have a country of their own. They’ve been promised that before but hope springs eternal.
Kurdish woman have formed fighting brigades and have begun to return to their villages and families in coffins. They are said, like the men, to be fierce fighters. The woman in the portrait is not a fighter. (This was shot before the latest horrors began, back when our men and women kept the peace in Iraq.) I thought of the Kurdish women fighters because the woman in the photo looks as if she is holding a hand grenade. And the way she is dressed reminds me of WWII Partisan fighters.
I saw her at a park. Families were having a Sunday picnic. Her face reminded me of the face of a Greek statue. I asked her to pose for me and she did but she was too self-conscious. I’d place her and she’d turn away giggling in embarrassment. I gave up. Neither of us was used to our role.