ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A kurdish photographer who captured the devastation and pain of his people after the Islamic State (ISIS) took control of parts of his country has won the first award at this year’s Moscow International Foto Award.Younis Mohammed, 44, whose photos were fell into the category of war and documentary told Rudaw that his photos show the misery ISIS brought to the region and the fight against the radical group by the Kurdish Peshmerga.“My photos captured the misery and pain of my nation in the last two years under Daesh (ISIS) militants,” said Mohammed. “They are showing the misery in Kurdistan and Rojava but also the bravery of Peshmerga forces.”Mohammad a native of Duhok who now lives in the capital Erbil said that he started his photo documentary project around the end of 2012 in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) and the Kurdistan Region simultaneously.Mohammad’s photo story that consists of 8 photos and won two awards will be shown in an exhibition in Moscow for one month.He explained that his motive behind the project was to show that innocent civilians were the real victims of a group that professed religion and peace.“My message was to say that Daesh (ISIS) has used Islam as an excuse to control the region and rule the people and use them,” Mohammed said, adding that “people are the real victims of this extreme ideology.”The annual photo event in the Russian capital aims to discover talented photographers around the world and introduce them to the Russian society.This is not the first award for the Kurdish photographer whose pictures are all in black and white. Mohammad has previously won Days Japan International Photo Journalism Award for another photo project and his work has been published in several international magazines.You can see Mohammed’s photo story titled “In the name of religion”

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