Heartbreaking Side-by-Side Photo Collages Reveal Stark Differences of Children Around the World

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Istanbul-based artist Uğur Gallenkuş uses photo collages as a powerful way to showcase the differences in the world. Placing disparate photojournalism images side-by-side, he fuses them into singular compositions that highlight problems across the globe, with a focus on the Western world and the Middle East.

“These problems are war-conflicts, socio-economic problems, environmental disasters, women's and children's rights,” Gallenkuş tells My Modern Met. “All of the photos in my works are news photos of real events. Not all of us can understand the events we see in the news and the experiences of the people who have been exposed to these events.”

By placing photos next to each other,  the contrasts remind us that there are other people out there who live totally different lives than us. “I am doing these studies with the aim of raising awareness so that people can empathize more with this problem and take action to solve that problem,” Gallenkuş explains. “We can be the people who are exposed to these problems or the people we love, or I make people show these problems by using different figures in our lives with my work.”

The digital collage artist is no stranger to My Modern Met. We’ve featured his thought-provoking works in the past, and he’s been prolific in his quest to encourage social change. Gallenkuş has released a book titled Parallel Universes of Children which highlights the inequalities and crises that many children face today.

Gallenkuş shares: “This book aims to draw attention to the fact that an average of 100K children die every year due to wars and conflicts, that children do not have access to adequate education and health services, and that children are used as child laborers, child soldiers, and child sex slaves. These things I'm talking about are terrible things. But in the other half of our world, these problems exist. We cannot achieve successful results in solving or minimizing these problems if we do not create empathy and awareness of these problems.”

Parallel Universes of Children is now available on Gallenkuş’ website.

Istanbul-based artist Uğur Gallenkuş has released a powerful book sharing his photo collages that highlight problems across the globe.

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

He is especially cognizant of the different lives that children experience; depending on social, economic, and environmental issues they're born into.

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Collage Art Book by Ugur Gallenkus

Uğur Gallenkuş: Website | Instagram | Facebook

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Uğur Gallenkuş.

Related Articles:

Side-By-Side Photos Show Heartbreaking Contrast of Western World and War-Torn Middle East

Photographer Creates Poetic Collages by Seamlessly Blending Stock Photos

Interview: Photojournalist Uses Polaroids to Document the Faces of the Refugee Crisis

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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