In this episode of the Donker Kamer Podcast, I speak with Kurdish photographer Ebrahim Alipoor, whose work brings visibility to stories that are often silenced in Iranian Kurdistan. He grew up in remote mountain villages where even basic things like knowing your official birth year or registered name were uncertain. His father, a village teacher, bought a single Yashica film camera to document his students, unknowingly planting the seed for Ebrahim’s path as a photographer.

Ebrahim shares how he became a self-taught documentary photographer in a region shaped by border economies, political repression, and the everyday risks faced by “kolbars,” men who carry heavy loads across dangerous mountain terrain to earn a living. His long-term project Bullets Have No Borders earned the World Press Photo Story of the Year, but for him the real purpose remains unchanged: preserving the untold stories of Kurdish life and history.

He talks about arrest and censorship, the challenge of working without institutional support, and the years in which family and society pushed him toward a “normal job.” He explains how poetry, silence, and rhythm influence his visual language, and why he continues to follow long-term stories even when they bring little financial security. Ebrahim also shares a preview of his next project, focused on Kurdish mother-tongue education, another fragile, essential piece of cultural survival.

A conversation about resilience, truth, and using photography as a bridge between lived experience and collective memory.

Want to deepen your own photographic voice?
We’re hosting a five-day master workshop with renowned Dutch photographer Awoiska van der Molen from June 2–6 in the French Alps.
It’s an immersive, small-group program for photographers who want to refine their inner drive, narrative focus, and visual language.

Apply by submitting your portfolio here.