This leporello gives an impression of my visits to Iraqi Kurdistan
in 2017-2018 and my encounters with female Peshmerga fighters.
In their hands they carry souvenirs of loved ones.
Claire Felicie
Each of this linen-bound leporello's 51 pages are thick boards with one black & white photograph featured in each pairing, these materials also combine to give this leporello some real weight coupled with its sturdy pages. There's almost a sculptural feel to the work which is combined with an intimacy that comes from Felicie's identification with the women, and in particular their roles as Pershmerga (to stand in front of death) fighters in Iraqi Kurdistan in their war against the Islamic State.
Attached to the back of the leporello is a copy of a handwritten note in which Felicie goes into greater detail about how this book came about and she concludes writing about the female Pershmerga, "They felt like sisters to me. Because these women are first and foremost, like me, mothers, grand mothers. Powerful, resilient, protective. Full of the joy of life while bravely staring death in the face."
Felicie is a Dutch photographer who has done a number of interesting and varied photographic projects and they can been seen here on her website: Claire Felicie Photography | PROJECTS. Follow this link to a smart and in-depth look at this leporello written by Sabrina Mandanici: Claire Felicie, Daughters of the Sun | Collector Daily
51 single-sided pages, 5.75" x 4", when fully opened 17ft.
