According to the Geneva Academy, there are over 110 ongoing armed conflicts across the world. It’s a stark reality, and one that Istanbul-based artist Uğur Gallenkuş attempts to confront throughout his most recent book Parallel Universes of War & Peace.
Published on September 21, 2024, in honor of World Peace Day, the book visualizes the disparities between war-torn countries and those at peace, expressed through evocative digital collages. Each collage juxtaposes photojournalistic imagery with scenes of idyllic lives, an effect that underscores the devastating impact of wars across countries like Ukraine, Rwanda, Gaza, Sudan, and Iraq, among others.
The book doesn’t merely depict war, but it also weaves a considered narrative through its six distinct sections. “The Lost Innocence,” for instance, focuses on one of war’s most vulnerable victims: children. One collage repurposes an archival photograph from Vietnam, in which a group of children flee from the impact of an aerial napalm attack on suspected Viet Cong bases. The right side of the composition, however, features a young child and her father bounding across a verdant field, running, evidently, only for the joy of it.
“Uprooted Lives,” the book’s second section, explores displacement in relation to war, with one collage contrasting a fashion catwalk with Arakanese refugees escaping Buthidaung in Myanmar. Another section, “Through Iconic Lenses,” sees Gallenkuş examine the history of war photography, revisiting images with enduring impact, such as Steve McCurry’s Afghan Girl and Kevin Carter’s The Vulture and the Little Girl.
Taken in its entirety, Parallel Universes of War & Peace presents not only a compelling but essential argument for peace. No matter how precarious an undertaking, security, coexistence, and advocacy, Gallenkuş seems to suggest, will prevail through consciousness-raising efforts such as his own.
“[Parallel Universes of War & Peace] challenges us to envision a future where the echoes of conflict are silenced,” Gallenkuş writes of the book. “Let its pages sear into your consciousness, compelling you to join the urgent call for peace.”
To order your own copy of Parallel Universes of War & Peace, visit Uğur Gallenkuş’s website.
Parallel Universes of War & Peace compiles evocative digital collages by Uğur Gallenkuş and offers an urgent plea for global peace.
Each digital collage juxtaposes photojournalistic imagery with scenes of idyllic lives to underscore the devastating impacts of war around the world.
The book is organized around six sections, exploring various aspects of war and war photography.
Parallel Universes of War & Peace published on September 21, 2024, in honor of World Peace Day, and is available for purchase on the artist's website.
Uğur Gallenkuş: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Uğur Gallenkuş.
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